Stormbringers
by Allseer
Summary: After the fall of their kingdom, Stormwind's refugee fleet is hit by a heavy storm. Damon Ashfall and his forces, after being separated from the main fleet, attempt to open a large portal despite the storm. Things go awry. One should never test the weather. AU.
1. Chapter 1

_**AN: This is something I put together earlier this year and never released. Obvious references regarding a few character names, set after the fall of Stormwind. And yes I'm keeping with the Stormwind references rather than Azeroth because A: It is easier on my brain. B: I mostly played Horde. It is obviously AU because it will warp Kalimdor's history, at least to a small extent. Enjoy. Please forgive my poor eyesight and the laptop screen for editing errors.**_

* * *

Sir Damon Ashfall, Knight Commander of Stormwind, stood aboard his flagship _The Avatar_ as the sea raged around him. Despite the waves threatening the precious transports filled with refugees fleeing from the destruction of the kingdom by the Horde, his position atop his battleship let him view the area with a certain calm.

The squadron of warships surrounding the transports had been separated from the main fleet for hours now at the mercy of the storm, and his best mages were currently gathering together in an attempt to teleport them back to the fleet. A glance up into the storm concerned him but his trust in the mages who had explained the idea held him firm in face of the fury of the elements.

When he looked to the mages gathering upon his deck, teleporting or flying in on gryphons from the other ships regardless of the storm, he saw them gathering in a great circle. His flagship lead the fleet from the front and as such was in perfect position for the portal to be created. As the waves rocked his ship several of the mages almost stumbled, just barely maintaining their position amongst the circle.

The sight of a large wave heading for his ship caused alarm to rush through him, but before he could shout a warning the mages chants rose above the noise of the storm. As the ship rocked violently he could spot several mages fall to the deck, even hearing them stumble the words powering the spell. The giant rift opening before them was upon the fleet too quickly to avoid, and as the stormy waters forced the fleet through the weather seemed to follow.

A frigate trailing behind was the last ship through as the storm and unstable portal reacted in an explosion of magic. The unfortunate frigate was surged forward on a wave from the explosion, driving past the fleet to be crashed among an unfamiliar grass and boulder covered shore. Already another frigate was closing the distance to the shore to rescue their fellow soldiers, despite the violent magically fueled storm that struck out at the fleet.

Damon turned to the captain of his ship. "Anchor the larger ships, get the refugees to land! We can't risk landing the larger vessels with these waters, but the transports won't stand a chance among the waves."

Hearing the man relay his orders, he surveyed the fleet swiftly. Satisfied that their were no immediate issues, he strode to the deck of the forecastle while grabbing his spyglass from the pouch at his waist. Directly before him was a grassy landing leading up to great cliffs above the water. A short expanse of cliff to the south separate it from another flat section of land that rolled to more hills.

"Jonathan," He called to his squire, causing the young lad from Elwynn Forest to rush up the stairs to the forecastle. "I want a boat ready to take me to shore the moment the storm calms down. I also want a company of men on that beach with the refugees. I know the platoons among the transports will need rest, and I don't want anything getting any idea about attacking us."

"Who do you want in charge milord?" The young lad, almost thirteen summers in age, was very keen on the chain of command.

"Commander Greybraid," Damon replied, referring to an older dwarven knight that had trained him as a boy. "Find out what ship it was that got sent into the shore, if it can't be easily repaired have it stripped and make a dock."

"Yes milord!" The boy ran off quickly to relay his commands and Damon turned back towards the land.

Already several transports were slowly making their way to the shore, carefully staying back while the first unloaded its passengers. A team of gryphons were carefully unloading as many supplies as they could while the ship was near land, flying low to avoid the worst of the enhanced storms winds. Once the first ship had pulled away they switched their attentions to the oncoming second ship.

A great boom followed by a loud crack rent the air and Damon turned to the sound on his right to see the ablaze mast of a frigate crash into the waves. He spotted several soldiers dragged off by it even as the closest gryphon aboard the fleet took flight to assist them, screeching as the rider tugged it aside to avoid a falling bolt of lightning. Several large birds also rose into the air as hunters released their companions to help.

He was going to have the men signal for more assistance when the bulk of a _giant_ crab and a large turtle jumped into the water from his ship. Apparently he had some rather interesting hunters among his men. Satisfied, he turned his spyglass to the shore once more to watch the unloading.

* * *

It took until morning for the storm to calm. Several extremely long hours of watching transports depositing frightened refugees had caused Damon to retire for a brief rest to prepare for the coming day. Once he was roused and on land he sought Commander Corven Greybraid, a fellow knight in service to Stormwind.

"Commander," He greeted as he joined the dwarf, the elder Knight giving a salute. "News?"

"We've got boys fortifyin' over by that wreck." The dwarf pointed southeast towards the distant short separated by cliffs. "Seems that path leads up these here hills, so we thought it best. The few gryphons we could spare to scout didn't spot anythin' livin' in the area, so we've been movin' the people up as they come."

"You've already dispatched survey teams and architects, haven't you?" Damon gave the old dwarf a grin as he noticed a team of dwarves upon the clifftop.

"Aye, that I have," Greybraid replied with a smile. "Figured you'd want the men to work right away, rather than loungin' around and makin' trouble." At Damon's nod the dwarf continued on, "We got notice of centaurs, the filthy beasties, up past the cliffs to the east. The lads buildin' the defences have half my company with them."

"Do we need more men over there?" Damon swung his spyglass to the south to watch several teams of humans and dwarfs building a stone and wooden palisade.

"Another company on the ground wouldn't be amiss," Commander Greybraid grumbled. "We need more supplies as well, but the transports are only comin' in so fast at once and we can't unload them fully since we need to get people to land."

Damon turned to the beach and watched as another team of builders scrambled to get a wooden dock built to aid the unloading. "The refugees are being asked about their professions I assume?"

"Aye, got a clerk goin' through them. Made sure to tell them to stick to tents for now anyway." Greybraid stroked his long braid while looking at his former pupil. "I want a mine open as soon as I can. Our construction supplies are extremely limited, and I'd prefer to use stone anyway."

Damon was rather impressed at how quickly his former mentor had things progressing. "If you have any cavalry on the ground I'll take them on a patrol. We brought my horse along with me. Also have some of the frigates anchor off the southern beach to disembark from there."

"That'd be helpful, aye." The dwarf turned and shouted to a soldier to prepare the cavalry forces. "Second to last ship had them. Got a crazy battlemage with them, real thrillseeker, but he follows orders."

"That wouldn't happen to be Sir Randall's group would it?" Damon had previous experiences with the mage in question, and while he set him on edge the man could get the job done.

A chuckle rose from the dwarf as he turned a knowing eye to his former student. "Aye, that it is. Sir Randall and his men-at-arms followed by that crazy mage. I'll try to get another group out after you as soon as I can."

Damon gave a sigh but sought out his horse, his squire dutifully armoring and saddling it before saddling his own horse. They journeyed up the hill slowly, the rain having turned it slippery. By the time they arrived to the top the rain had stopped and the clouds were parting, granting an astounding view of the hills to the southeast and the ocean to the west. Waiting for them were a dozen men-at-arms, the mage, their knight, and a dwarven shaman atop a ram.

"Sir Randall Swordbreaker, it is good to see you again." Damon gave the fellow knight a nod as he stopped his horse before them. "And just who is our dwarven comrade this day?"

The dwarf saluted with an axe from his ram as he chuckled. "Seamus Greybraid at yer service Sir Ashfall. Thought yer boys could use my contact with the elements."

"Your father mentioned you once or twice, happy to have the help. Are the men ready?" Damon turned to Sir Randall who gave a nod in return. "Let us go then, and keep your eyes out for centaur."

"Aye Commander!" The men replied as they followed the now riding Damon to the eastern path down.

As they passed the fortifications being built they could see another squadron of riders slowly filtering to shore, though they would have to give their beasts a rest. A human hunter with an eagle joined the riders with his own horse, apparently having been from the frigate that had begun rescue operations for the beached ship. The bird took to the air to provide them advanced warning of any natives in these lands.

Once they had ridden to the top of the hills to the east they were struck silent as the only dwarf among them gave a gasp and leapt from his saddle. "What in the blazes?" The dwarf stared at the hilly grassland covered in groupings of trees. Several large sentient trees walked among the trees, planting saplings and flowers.

"Is something wrong?" Damon was mildly curious about the reaction the dwarf gave.

"The elements are practically singin' up here Commander," Seamus replied. "Almost like the land hasn't felt whole in years."

Several of the men-at-arms gave a cry as one of the large tree beings turned their way. As it slowly lumbered over a few of them drew their weapons and nudged their horses back in worry. Sir Randall barked a command for them to hold as Seamus and Damon moved forward in a non-hostile manner.

As the sentient tree stopped several meters from them it looked at them from above a great leafy beard. "You are the Stormbringers?" The question was spoken slowly, in an ancient voice that sounded unused for years.

After glancing at the dwarf who gave a nod Damon met the gaze of the living tree. "Our arrival did bring the storm, yes. We apologize if this caused harm to your woods."

"Harm?" The being gave a slow, rumbling laugh at this. "Nature and magic healed this land because of the storm. My brothers and I were simple trees before the storm, but old trees. The magics in the storm awoke us from our slumber, and cause our weakened and dying brethen to spread." A large branch arm pointed out a half dozen similar creatures tending to the trees around them.

"Dyin'?" The shaman beside Damon questioned. "What happened to this land?"

"Something below the land drew the life from it long ago. Then the centaurs came to despoil the ruined earth. The land remembers," The being replied.

"Do you have a name? And could you tell us where the energy was drawn to?" Damon didn't want anything that could draw the energy from the ground beneath him near.

"A name?" An arm came up to stroke the leafy beard before pausing. "Treebeard. I am named Treebeard."

"Alright Treebeard, what ruined the land?" Seamus repeated Damon's question, a look of shock on his face.

"The Earth Princess. Deep within that mountain," Treebeard pointed north, back towards their landing point. "Her centaur children live atop it and guard the entry against outsiders. They will come soon, to destroy our woods. My brothers and I shall likely end then." The sadness coming from such a deep sound was disheartening, and Damon and Seamus exchanged another look before Damon nodded.

"We need wood Treebeard," Seamus supplied hopefully. "If we keep the centaurs from burnin' yer wood, could ye spare some trees for the men to cut and help the forest grow?"

The living tree rumbled loudly and turned his trunk to the woods, staring for several minutes. Slowly more of its kind came forward, low rumbles echoing from their bark faces that Damon was unable to understand. Several of them turned to look at the woods themselves before with another rumble they departed.

"My brothers have agreed," Treebeard replied in his deep and slow voice. "We will take more saplings before we lead your men to those that can be cut to make room for growth. So long as the forest can grow, we agree."

"We can work with that," Damon agreed instantly. "I'd rather have some trees than not have any trees."

"A gift for you Stormbringer," Treebeared rumbled, slowly reaching forth with a slightly glowing acorn. "Care for her well, and avoid letting water touch her until your enemy is defeated."

"Thank you," Damon replied in confusion, carefully taking the acorn from the living tree. He put the acorn in a small phial he carried for samples before stowing it in his pouch. "It was an interesting experience meeting with you, Treebeard."

With a slow rumbling laugh Treebeard turned and departed. Damon and the shaman returned and spoke with Sir Randall about the conversation, and he quickly had the eagle sent back carrying a message to Commander Greybraid. The group swiftly set off to the east once more, moving at a careful pace to be aware of threats.

* * *

An hour later, after the eagle had returned with a note of thanks from Greybraid, the bird gave a sharp cry as a dust cloud appeared northeast of them. Considering it was from the mountain foothills they likely wouldn't have noticed it without that warning in time to reposition. Turning his horse to face the oncoming threat, Damon grimaced as he raised the spyglass to his eye. A large grouping of centaur were charging toward them.

Lifting his hammer into the air Sir Randall gave a roar. "Spears!" At his command half of the riders swung long spears down and pointed to the enemy. "Let's teach these barbarians fear! Charge!" Damon stowed the spyglass away as the men charged with a great warcry. Joining the charge he pulled his blade from its sheath, the sun glinting off the ash grey metal.

It wasn't long before the opposing forces struck each other, and Damon was quickly forced to put his sword to work cutting down a centaur rushing past his right. He caught sight of Seamus Greybraid crippling several in quick order from the back of his ram. Giving a grunt Damon caught an attempted spear with his shield, destroying the weapon with a return strike by his sword.

One of the men-at-arms fell from his horse several yards to the left of Damon, a spear through his shoulder. Damon spun his horse to the side, quickly gutting his opponent as he did so, and drove it towards the downed soldier. He noticed young Jonathan strike down a centaur attempting to take Seamus from behind, and the dwarf gave a laugh as he finished it off.

A centaur was attempting to close in on the injured soldier, but Damon reached the soldier first and stabbed his blade through the unarmoured torso of the attacker. The soldier managed to break off the length of the spear, leaving the rest in so as not to bleed out, and he stood with sword in hand.

"Thank you Commander!" The injured man shouted, running for his horse amongst the battle.

Damon had no time to reply as he was already engaging another centaur, longsword flying against scimitar and shield rising to block arrows from another centaur. With a shout Damon struck at the unprotected legs of the centaur, cutting through the foreleg and downing his opponent. Before the injured centaur could retaliate his sword flashed out and removed the head as he urged his horse towards the archer.

Cutting down the archer was a simple affair, and Damon looked around to see his men finishing the rest of the centaur warband. The injured soldier was having his wound wrapped by one of his fellows and Jonathan, Sir Randall was directing some of the men to pick up the better weapons off the centaurs, and Seamus was going around finished the injured centaur off.

Damon directed his horse to Sir Randall for a status report. "Status, Sir Randall?"

"One dead, poor fool took a spear to the throat," Sir Randall grimaced as he remembered that. "Three others with injuries, so thankfully we didn't come off too badly."

"We'll have to increase patrol sizes," Damon mused, watching the hunter send his bird aloft once more. "Larger platoons, equipped with spears."

"Commander Greybraid has likely considered that already sir." The knight looked to his men with relief. "We should return however, another fight like that would go badly."

Damon gave a nod and kept a watch on the horizon while the men picked anything that could be of use up off the battlefied. Their departure was a quiet affair as they kept a careful eye on the mountains to the north. It was only a short time later they came upon the second patrol of two dozen riders. The injured men were given a short rest as the patrols Lieutenant was informed of the attack and several spair spears were passed over to the larger patrol before they departed once more.

At the top of the path from the foothills to the eastern beach they were met with a wooden palisade and heavy stakes being driven into the ground. A dozen guards armed with spears and a half dozen archers guarded it and gave salutes as they passed through. The builders halted work for several moments as they caught sight of the casualty, bowing their heads and praying to the Light. Damon felt that there was likely not a more appropriate response.

* * *

Sitting inside his tent going over geological surveys and crude maps of the surrounding lands, Damon officially signed off on several of Greybraid's idea. As the highest ranked human among the survivors of Stormwind, Damon found himself beset on all sides by the paperwork. Commander Greybraid had firmly stepped aside from a leadership position even though he had decades of experience on Damon, citing the need for the humans to have one of their own to look up to. Damon had jokingly retaliated by assigning Greybraid as his second, and put him in charge of opening a mine at the eastern landing, a task the dwarf took to with glee.

Commander Greybraid was a well respected individual, one of the few dwarves serving in the Stormwind military prior to the arrival of the Horde. The old dwarf had seen combat against the Gurubashi trolls, and was familiar with running an operation in hostile lands. He fully agreed with avoiding tunneling into a hostile mountain, and an entry below the foothills was hastily opened by the miners instead.

The sun was low in the sky when he finally put the papers aside and left his tent. Heading for the cooking fires, Damon was distracted by several children running past. Watching the children play for a few minutes was exactly what he needed after a long day, and so he sat beside the fire as they played tag.

The cook, a middle-aged man with a wide grin, gave a chuckle as he passed Damon a bowl of stew. "Those kids are lucky aren't they Commander?"

Lifting a spoonful of the stew up, Damon blew on it gently as he watched two young boys fleeing a younger girl. "They need that happiness," Damon replied before savoring the taste of the stew. "Who knows when we'll be able to contact Lordaeron. I only pray that the prince is safe."

"The men wouldn't let anything happen to Prince Varian, Commander." The cook gave a bowl to another warrior before turning back to Damon, "I just hope my boy is alright. He's part of the Royal Guard these days."

"Truly?" A son in the Royal Guard was considered good fortune among the men. "You must be proud."

"That I am." The man gave a firm nod as he served another bowl. "His mother, Light bless her, used to tell him stories about the Knights of Stormwind and the Royal Guard."

Damon took a moment to swallow another mouthful as he looked to the cook. "She passed then?"

"Aye, a decade ago. Never fully recovered from the birth, you see." The man paused in his work as he thought back to happier times. "I swear, not a child in town would misbehave if she was near. Too afraid of her not telling them the stories, I figure."

"Sounds like a great woman," Damon replied with a chuckle. "If only I had one of those to keep the men in line. Despite the work needing to be done we've already had two brawls."

The cook grinned before he flexed a well muscled arm, "Three actually Commander. Taught the boys not to drink and fight in front of my fire or the kids myself. Sent the louts to Commander Greybraid after I was done with them."

Damon winced and choked briefly on his stew, coughing for a moment until the cook slapped him on the back. "They'll regret that brawl more than anything come morning. Greybraid will have them in the mines bright and early without remorse."

"And the headache will be a lesson for 'em," a man from nearby chimed in, to the laughter of his fellows.

"It'll be a lesson to you all if you start something in front of my fires," Cook growled, eyeing them.

An amused soldier waved his spoon in surrender as he smiled, "And miss your stew? Never Cook, never."

Damon laughed lowly as he returned the bowl with a nod and departed for his tent. The stew was delicious, and he made a note to keep that man employed and supplied. He carefully arranged the papers on his table before removing his boots and armour. Sinking onto the rather soft cot, a privilege of rank, he resolved to get as much shut eye as he could.

Before he fell asleep, he looked to the small acorn sitting in a jar on his table. "Just what are you?" No answer came of course, and he soon fell asleep to dreams of acorns and centaurs.


	2. Chapter 2

"Milord," Jonathan called into the tent in the early morning, "Commander Greybraid requests your presence."

With a groan Damon sat up and fumbled for his armour. "Get in here lad and tell me what's going on."

"Of course milord," Jonathan rushed inside the tent to assist him, nimbly buckling the armour into place and helping him into his boots. "A ship has been spotted to the south. Commander Greybraid sent a frigate out to make contact and ordered me to retrieve you."

"What kind of ship?" Damon asked, splashing water from a bucket Jonathan had carried in onto his face. "Did you get a look at it?" He stuffed the acorn jar into his pouch after a moment of hesitation, and shifted his shoulders as he picked up his shield.

"Yes sir, the Commander let me use his spyglass." The boy had a face of concentration as he recalled what he had seen. "It wasn't like anything I've ever seen milord, though I think it was a transport. It had no cannons, you see. The colors were purple."

"A ship of Dalaran, perhaps?" Damon strapped his sword to his side and opened the tent flap, letting the younger male step out first.

"The sailors were tall milord. And they were purple too, like the ship." Jonathan's reply caused Damon to stumble slightly as he squinted into the morning light.

"Trolls?" At the boy shaking his head he sighed in relief. "Well let's go see then."

The trip from the encampment to the secondary landing didn't take too long, and the unfamiliar ship docked in the port was very hard to miss. It vaguely reminded Damon of a ship from Quel'Thalas, the elven kingdom north of Lordaeron, that he had seen several years past. Though the sound of Commander Greybraid and a female arguing carried along the morning breeze, and his eyes quickly sighted the dwarf standing firm against a tall woman with dark blue/purple hair.

"Damon, get over here and explain to the lass that we caused no harm," Greybraid roared, annoyance clear in his eyes.

"Caused no harm?!" The woman shouted, an expression of fury rising. "Your _Arcane magic_ caused a storm that sunk two of our ships!" Damon restrained a wince at that, he'd be pissed too. "Who knows what damage you've already caused to the land!"

"Now hold on," Damon inserted calmly, causing the woman to round on him in her anger, "I made contact with the tree beings on the rise yesterday myself. They seem perfectly happy with things."

Watching her eyes widen in shock made Damon give a small smile. "You awoke an Ancient?"

"Giant trees that can walk and speak?" At her nod Damon continued, "I came across several yesterday while on patrol. You should be made aware that we have agreed to protect their forests from threats in exchange for help with our lumber limits."

Some of the anger seemed to drain from her face and she took a moment to collect herself. "I am Shandris Feathermoon, Sentinel of the Kaldorei. Though it seems in your tongue it is 'Night Elves'." That last part was spit out grudgingly, and Damon gave a small groan as he spied her glaring in the direction of Sir Randall and his mage companion.

"I take it the mage and his efforts are the reason we are able to communicate?" The return look was all he needed to confirm it. "I am Sir Damon Ashfall, Knight of Stormwind. I am sorry about the mage, he means well but... he gets excited."

"My people do not like arcane magic," Shandris replied, causing his brow to rise.

"Properly regulated magic is quite useful." Damon gave a chuckle at her deadpan look, "My apologies for any grief he caused, or damage caused by the storm. We are not in a position to repay the damaged vessels however."

The elf glanced to the nearby construction efforts, a second dock already completed in the early morning light and several defensive walls. Her eyes then rose to the encampment peeking over the cliff to the northwest. "Why are your people here?" She finally asked as a team of miners came from the hole in the cliffside near them. "And why in such numbers?"

Damon gave a quick thought to that question. He knew he had around a thousand warriors aboard his ships, and at least twice that in refugees. Suddenly appearing nearby would give anyone cause to be concerned. An exchanged look with Commander Greybraid confirmed his thoughts and he decided to go for honesty.

"Our kingdom was destroyed by ruthless invaders," Damon explained quietly. "We were separated from the main fleet during the storm and our mages attempted to get us away from the dangerous weather. Unfortunately the weather threw off their ritual and caused us to land here."

"I would like to speak with the Ancient," Shandris replied after a few moments of silence. "After that I will have to contact our leaders."

"I would be more than happy to introduce you to Treebeard," Damon offered, signaling Jonathan to run off for the horses. "We should be alert of centaur threats, just yesterday my patrol encountered one."

The elf woman nodded once and then turn away to give commands to some of her kin in another language. Damon took a step back in surprise when two more female elves brought a trio of great cats from the boat. He watched as one approached closer and Shandris quickly swung into a saddle upon its back, looking at him in amusement. He gave her a deadpan look in return as Jonathar approached with his mount.

* * *

Seamus Greybraid and Sir Randall once again joined them, this time with a bolstered force of two dozen. The dwarf made attempts to speak of the elements and their reaction to the storm, but Damon tuned them out in favor of keeping an eye to the north. It wasn't an overly long trip to where they first saw Treebeard, but the surroundings were clear of the great tree beings as far as the eye could see.

"Hmm, this is odd." Damon and his men should have at least spotted a patrol checking in among the tenders of the groves. "Sir Randall, any idea where the nearest patrol would be at this time?"

The older knight gave a quick glance to the morning sun and pointed southeast. "We spotted centaur warbands in the southeast around some mountains. We still need to organize a force to drive them back, but the patrols should be aware of the threat."

"Perhaps the Ancients and your men have encountered the centaurs," Shandris suggested. "We should make haste if that is the case."

They rode swiftly though the tree growth blocked their sight in that direction. Entering the grove slowed them considerably, but within a short time the sounds of battle reached Damon and he urged his horse around another tree. The sight that reached his struck rage into his heart. Treebeard and his brothers had joined the patrol in defence of the new growth, but the centaurs had encircled the soldiers and living trees and even now torches were being lit among the large centaur warband.

A roar left his throat as he and Sir Randall started the charge, his horse clearing the distance in powerful strides. Damon lashed out and removed the hand from a centaur attempting throw a torch, dismissing it as several arrows sprouted from its torso. His next opponent attempted to drag him from his mount with a lasso but his sword cut the rope as Jonathan rode to his defence and drove a spear into the beasts chest.

Damon cut down another centaur as the encircled patrol rallied for a charge, Treebeard and his kind wading into the melee and sending centaurs crashing to the sides. Several centaur found themselves crushed beneath the powerful limbs of the tree spirits, spears striking down upon those that survived. It didn't take long for the centaur to rout, fleeing in droves for the mountains, and Damon found himself near a conversing Shandris and Treebeard.

"My brothers in the south whisper of your people," Treebeard slowly rumbled out. "The kaldorei are friends of nature, we know. I am happy to meet one of your people."

"When the strangers spoke of waking Ancients, I hardly dared to hope..." The elf trailed off, looking upon Treebeard in wonder. "By Elune, has nature returned to this place?"

The great tree slowly looked north. "Once the Earth Princess falls and her cursed children are defeated, this land shall live once more." Treebeard gave a rumbling laugh and gestured to Damon, "I imagine the Stormbringers will lead that."

Damon gave a nod in response when the elf looked at him, "I have already alerted our men. The mountain covered in centaurs would be a tough thing to attack, and so we have focussed on fortifying and gathering supplies."

"I shall return to speak with you Treebeard," Shandris told the Ancient. "I must go to my people and send word of what has happened before I can confirm assistance."

"Speak with your leaders Sentinel, my brothers and I shall defend these groves." When the Ancient started to move away he looked back to Damon once more. "The centaur will be angry at their losses Stormbringer, prepare yourself." And then the great tree lumbered away, slow strides crossing large tracts of land.

* * *

Once Shandris and her fellow elves had departed Damon was heavily involved in direction of the construction efforts. Several dozen houses and a barracks were being planned along the bottom of the eastern hills, to provide residence for the miners and soldiers stationed along the coast. Every able-bodied man they could spare was put to work hauling supplies to the projects or stone from the mine.

It was late in the afternoon when the plans for their fortress were finalized and another dozen miners delved underground. Stone wasn't the only thing they were mining, already several veins of iron ore had been discovered. The limited availability of wood was a large concern, but their dwarven allies had a long history of working stone.

Throughout the evening he huddled over the table in his tent, acorn sitting close in reach, and read more plans. Another barracks and a smithy were planned for, along with an armoury. The chapel the priests were clamoring for was put on hold until some more of the key structures were completed, like a granary. Two of the transports had been temporarily modified into fishing vessels under the order of Captain Threeshot, the captain of Damon's flagship.

With a sigh Damon leaned away from the plans for the inn, rolling them back up and putting it in the approved pile. He glanced at Jonathan who was in the corner of the tent polishing his armour. "Where's your family, Jonathan?" The boy startled and dropped the rag he was using, making Damon chuckle as the boy fumbled for it. "Well lad?"

"Ma works with the cooks milord," Jonathan replied, looking down to his feet. "Thank you for letting them come to Stormwind before the orcs got there milord, I was real worried 'bout them."

Damon frowned as he recalled the bear of a man that was the boy's father. "What happened to your father?" Last he had seen of the man was the evacuation.

Jonathan froze before standing tall, a look of determination across his face. "Pa stayed with the warriors to defend the last ship. When the last civilians were boarding the orcs reached the docks, Pa got hurt fighting them. He died during the storm, milord."

Damon stood and stepped forward to clap the boy on the shoulder. "You've still got your mother, lad. Remember that."

"Yes milord," Jonathan replied, before a worried look crossed his face. "What about your own?"

"My family estate was in the Black Morass," Damon informed the lad. "There were no survivors."

"I'm sorry milord." The boy looked away in embarrassment.

Damon waved him off as he returned to his seat and look at the acorn. "I've worked through the issue during the war. They took plenty of the orcs with them."

The boy gave his apologies again before hastily making an exit, and Damon waited several long moments before letting a chuckle escape him. Poor lad was still too wet behind the ears. Damon gave another laugh as he made himself ready for bed, pulling his boots off and stretching.

* * *

The elves did not return the next day, or the day after that, and so Damon resolved to wait. The third day after being visited by the Sentinels was started with warhorns and a horde of centaurs from the east. The dozen guardsmen on the ground fought valiantly to buy time for the refugee forces to rally but were overwhelmed, and the centaurs forced their way past the wooden barricade.

Unfortunately for the centaurs Commander Greybraid had formed a company of spearmen to reinforce the barricade. As the archers from the newly constructed gatehouse fired upon the invaders, the infantry started advancing uphill through the centaur army. By the time Damon arrived an entire battalion had formed to combat the centrauts, the grassy hill being covered in blood and corpses.

The centaurs, sensing the tides had turned heavily, attempted to flee only to be cut off by Sir Randall and his returning platoon. The cavalrymen dropped from their horses to form a shieldwall with braced spears at the barricade. The centaur horde had no reatreat and Commander Greybraid ordered a charge against the barbarians.

It was a slaughter to put it simply. Hundreds of centaur lay dead or dying upon the field, likely an entire tribe, with minimal casualties to the people. Later Damon heard that among the three dozen thought killed in battle, only the dwarven sergeant had survived the original barricade defence. The dwarf had suffered a head injury during the battle and been buried by a pile of opponents he had slain, and so the centaur had overlooked him.

When the dwarf had stumbled back to base, asking for a pint to quench his throat and water to wash the blood out of his beard, Damon and Greybraid had promoted him on the spot. And proceeded to laugh heavily for several moments after the dwarf had lifted his axe and repeated his demand for a pint of ale.

"What's yer name lad?" Commander Greybraid waved a priest over as he asked, watching the dwarf sway on his feet.

"Oghren." The dwarf grumbled as the priest forced him to sit to be checked over, fidgeting as the man cast several spells. "Lost my spear and shield up top, sorry Commander."

"We can find or replace them, no problem Master Sergeant," Greybraid replied with a chuckle. "Just get yerself fixed up and over to chow _after_ you get clean. I don't want Cook comin' down here yellin' about you makin' a mess." The younger dwarf gave a wince but saluted, allowing the priest to work on him for several minutes as Damon and Commander Greybraid returned to deployment discussions.

"A full platoon up there should warn them off," Damon said, pointing to the rough map that was laid out. "If a dozen won't scare them off four should. A spike filled trench wouldn't go amiss either."

"Lands not suitable up there for a decent trench, unless we put it several meters out," Greybraid replied while stroking his beard. "At best we might cause them to break a leg, though spikes and barriers _would_ make that more effective."

"If we had the resources I'd say just build another gatehouse and walls up there," Damon mused before shaking his head. "Unfortunately there's no extra labor or supplies to do that."

"'Scuse me Commander," Oghren cut in, patiently pushing the priest aside to stand. "I think my wife might be able to help with some of the problem. At least when it comes to buildin' and fightin'"

"And how is that?" Damon was genuinely curious about what the dwarf could suggest to help.

Oghren blushed a bit as he found the words but carried on, "I married a Dark Iron." Greybraid sucked his breath in and stared. "She was taught how to make golems by her family before she left. We've got all that iron coming up from the mine now..."

"We could have a team of war golems to crush the blasted centaur," Commander Greybraid muttered. "Tell yer wife to get to work, I want a workin' golem before I sign off on any. That alright with you, Commander Ashfall?"

Damon gave a nod in return swiftly. "Fortify it however you wish Commander Greybraid. Just remember we have other projects that it will put on hold."

With a nod from Greybraid and a salute from Master Sergeant Oghren he left the dwarves to it. Jonathan had the unlucky job of delivering yet another petition for chapel construction from the priests, and Damon had to refrain from berating the boy about being manipulated. He sent a missive informing the priests that construction of a chapel, more likely a proper cathedral given their design plans, would have to wait for the defences to be properly reinforced.

When Jonathan returned from that delivery he carried a petition from the mages, and Damon's answering words told them to manage contact with Lordaeron or wait until they finished other buildings. The mages were having a difficult time opening a portal as apparently none of them were powerful enough to do so properly. Damon had vetoed the idea of another ritual portal, not wanting the mages to rip the area apart.

Retiring early that evening with a headache, he soon found himself reading a book on military campaigns that he had checked out of the Royal Library prior to Stormwind's fall. He had realized an hour later that Jonathan had returned at some point and he had begun reading aloud to the boy, who listened in wonder to the tale. The boy was forced to read an hour every day to improve so eventually Damon handed the book to Jonathan and sat back with a glass of wine to listen to the boy stumble over the words.

* * *

Rain had started to fall during the night, and Damon found himself watching the fishing ships leaving the dock the next morning. He found himself saddened at the realization that while thousands of people have managed to cram themselves and emergency supplies aboard the ships, material possessions were few and far between. Damon had several trinkets from his family that had managed to survive the war by virtue of already being onboard before the siege.

His tent and furniture had actually been gifts from his parents upon his knighthood, and his mother and younger sister were the ones who made the cloak currently protecting Damon from the rain. His sword was the only thing recovered from the destruction of his home, having been in the hands of an orc upon a battlefield Damon fought on. He didn't remember much of the battle, having been in a rage after sighting the blade, but it was one of the few human victories in the war.

Standing upon the dock he briefly considered ordering a ship to attempt to find Lordaeron, but dismissed the idea because he could not afford to lose the supplies, men, or ship for such a journey. Not to mention they had no idea of which direction to sail and in these unknown waters that was dangerous. Damon looked to his flagship, anchored offshore as close as they dared bring it, and turned his gaze to the southeastern landing.

The beached ship was almost entirely salvaged now, only the large center mast laying in the grass indentifiable from a distance. He recalled having seen the damaged sail covering the cooking fires on his way down that morning, and at the thought of food his stomach rumbled. He firmly ignored the snickering of a nearby dockhand, the man unaware of just who he was laughing at, and turned for the long walk up the hill.

The slippery grass and mud sucking at his boots reminded him to order a proper road built. He was sure the men would appreciate it considering several buildings were already under construction near the docks. He had been very firm on exactly where everything would be built, especially regarding military structures.

Once his stomach was filled and the fire had warmed him, Damon returned to his tent only to find several priests and mages gathered outside. Giving a sigh at their stubborn attitudes, considering the rain had yet to cease, he told them to pick someone to represent them and get out of the weather. The following discussion only avoided becoming an argument by virtue of Damon's firm warnings.

An hour later, shortly after they left, Damon let his head rest on the table before him to fight off the headache. Neither group could see the bigger picture once they desired something, and it took every ounce of his will to avoid striking one of them. He was thankful that the majority of the refugees understood the needs of the many when it came to requests. Most of them just required visible results, which Damon was providing with a solid command structure.

"Milord," Jonathan's voice floated into the tent, "Commander Greybraid has sent the supply reports."

Damon grinned slightly, "Come in already, lad." Those reports were something he was both happy and dreading to read. At least it wasn't another priest or mage.


	3. Chapter 3

As things turned out they hadn't met all the denizens of this land yet. Four days later a pair of gryphon riders had flown over the centaur tribe to the southeast and spotted several bull-like creatures in obvious prison cages. One of the gryphon riders was a dwarven shaman and he claimed he felt one of the bulls obviously attempting to summon the elements from inside a cage. The dwarves were in an uproar and wishing to march directly upon the centaur tribe, whereas the human refugees were worried about the tribe in the mountains above them.

"I'm tellin' ya Commander, if ye don't do somethin' we'll have a riot on our hands," Corven Greybraid hastily explained, shooting his son a stern look when the dwarf tried to butt in.

"I want to march on the centaurs as much as anyone," Damon replied as he looked over the new maps. "The priests and mages are still bickering about buildings, the common folk are scared of another centaur attack, and we still haven't heard anything from those elves."

Seamus Greybraid stepped forward with a grin, "Aye, waitin' for the 'elves'. Can't say I blame ya Commander but we need ta do somethin'. My kin are gettin' ready ta storm the place without yer knights."

Damon blinked several times in confusion, "I'm not quite sure what you mean by that, but do your accents get thicker when you get upset?" The two dwarves looked at each other and shrugged. "We've had good battles before, but you're talking about an assault against a full clan of centaurs. Their tribal buildings may not seem like much, but the numbers they can bring shouldn't be underestimated."

"That Branka lass has almost completed the first golem," Commander Greybraid pointed out.

"We can take it for a test against those beasts!" Seamus exclaimed, shooting Damon a hopeful look.

"Your father and I will go inspect it shortly Seamus," Damon replied as he secured the acorn. "I need you to go keep your people under control. If any of them give you trouble..."

"I can do some head knockin' for ya." Seamus waved as he departed the tent, leaving the Commanders alone.

"I've had a dozen brawls already Damon, somethin' needs to change," Greybraid muttered as he crossed his arms. "There ain't a safe choice to this one, lad."

Damon sighed as he gestured towards the exit, "I believe one of us will need to lead the assault personally. The question is who, really, fits each need best."

"I'm an old dwarf, lad." Greybraid ducked his aptly named face under the tent flap, "I can't be leadin' those charges. Take my boy and show him the ropes?"

Damon nodded as he followed Greybraid to the new forge. "Our styles are different but I can teach him a thing or two. You wouldn't mind keeping an eye on Jonathan would you? He's a bit young for this kind of thing."

"That lads tougher than you give him credit for Commander," Greybraid laughed. "I'll show him somethin' 'bout mannin' the defences."

"Mornin' Commanders!" Damon turned his head to spot the dwarf Oghren waving to them, the sound of hammering in the air. "Branka's just about finished I think, she's workin' on a shield."

"A shield for a golem?" Damon asked as he turned a curious eye to the building. "She wouldn't happen to have given it a spear as well, would she?"

"I helped with that one Commander," Oghren replied sheepishly. "She doesn't work too well with many and the spear was a bit too much for one dwarf."

"By the Light, how big is this golem?" A weapon that size could cause some serious damage.

"She'll be needin' my help moving the shield," Oghren replied as the sound of hammering ceased. "The golem is in the back, if ye want to see it activate."

Following the advice as Oghren disappeared into the forge, Damon came across a hulking statue of metal. It looked like a giant armoured warrior, and in its right hand it held a ten foot long metal spear. Damon could only hope the creation was partially hollow, as the resource cost alone could cripple the colony. Speaking of that, they should really come up with a name for it. Encampment didn't quite work with several permanent structures going up.

"Hullo there Commanders," A happy voice called out. Coming from the forge with Oghren was an ash coloured dwarf with dark red hair. The pair were pushing a platform with a very large shield upon it. "Give me a moment to get it up and running would you?"

Damon watched in curiosity as the female opened a hatch on the left side of the armoured creation and inserted a metal rod. With a firm twist of her hand she brought the golem to life, blue runes dancing across the armour as it stirred. Damon stayed several feet away while the golem moved to lift the shield in front of it.

"I call it a Storm Golem," Branka said proudly as she watched her creation stand to attention. "This one is programmed to only obey three people, you Commanders and myself as I have to maintain it."

"Does it have a second weapon?" Commander Greybraid asked, pointing to the massive spear it carried. "That won't be much use in close quarters, though against the centaurs it should be fine."

Branka rubbed her hands together to clear them of soot. "Didn't want to use that much metal up without knowing it worked. The shield and spear have runes on 'em to channel the lightning that those centaurs like to call up back to the ground." She pointed to the heavy sheet of metal that was at least two yards across. "Get behind it on the battlefield and watch the show. The spear has a secondary function of channeling it back _to_ the centaurs"

The golems giant head stared directly at Damon as he inspected it. "Is it combat ready?"

"Aye, this thing'll take on anybody," Branka grinned at him. "It can figure out simple commands easy enough. What do you need it for?"

"Assaultin' a centaur tribe," Commander Greybraid told her as he circled the creation. "This will go right through the defences our boys saw. Let's get to work."

* * *

Because the Storm Golem could not keep up with a company of cavalry Damon gathered five hundred of his best equipped men. Fifty dwarven heavy footmen escorted the golem, Seamus leading half a dozen shaman and a dozen mages directly behind them. Branka had explained that the golem could redirect any attack lightning that hit the shield, regardless of direction. It was capable of using the spear as a lightning rod and storing the energy as well.

Damon had Sir Randall Swordbreaker leading a hundred mounted knights and men-at-arms. The knight had his men trailing the infantry on either side, ready to spring to the defence of the lines. Most of the infantry was armed with strong spears but Damon had overseen the outfitting of secondary weapons in case of emergency.

The midday sun was bright upon Damon Ashfall, riding at the head of the army. He glanced skyward towards the four patrolling gryphons as a sharp cry sounded, just catching the signal for sighting of an Ancient. He waited a moment as a second signal identified Treebeard, the only Ancient actually capable of their speech. While the others would listen, and could understand them, the magics that had awoken them only left Treebeard able to speak Common.

"Carry on the march Captain," Damon told his second as he turned his horse in the direction of the distant figure. "I'll see what Treebeard wishes to say, watch for the signals."

"Yes Commander!" The man proceeded to take his place at the front as Damon rode away.

It only took a few short minutes to reach the Ancient and Damon found him watching the battalion of men off in the distance. Treebeard seemed to drink in the sight, taking his time to linger over the area where the Storm Golem marched. Damon gave him his time, having gotten used to the beings ways.

"You march to war." It wasn't a question, and both of them knew it.

"We march forth to defeat the barbarians," Damon replied with a nod.

Treebeard considered this for several long moments. "You invite their hatred, Stormbringer."

"I swore to protect my people. The centaur have already banded together once for a large attack." Damon could see the danger of enraging the centaurs as clearly as anyone, but leaving violent neighbors nearby was never a good option.

"So be it," Treebeard rumbled sadly. "The centaurs would bring fire to the forests with their thirst for conquest. Until we meet again, Stormbringer."

Damon watched the Ancient disappear into a group of trees before he turned his horse to catch up with his men. The plan of attack and troop deployment would need to be finalized much closer to the centaurs, when he had an accurate account of the situation. He had already come up with several strategies when he confirmed his desire to attack but most of them hinged on variables.

They were a mere hours ride from the mountain by the time Damon called the army to a halt, dispatching two of the gryphons to scout the enemy. The remaining two swung wide lazy patrols to account for their missing brethren. The men and the beasts used this time to rest before battle began, waterskins passing between the warriors as they quietly spoke.

Damon spent the time waiting for the return of his scouts by inspecting the mountain through his spyglass and discussing the merits of an outpost atop it with Seamus Greybraid. The dwarf suggested the need for lifts or gryphons to access it, which greatly appealed to Damon. Unfortunately neither of them were knowledgeable of gryphon breeding habits and were forced to dismiss the topic for later discussion by the return of the scouts.

"Commander, there are several hundred centaur in that village." The male human rider reported. "Judging by the emptiness in some of the village, the tribe was likely involved in the attacks upon our men."

The dwarf riding the other gryphon spat upon the ground in disgust. "Or worse. Those monsters were eatin' captives, Commander."

Damon paled rapidly. "Do we have any men unaccounted for Seamus?"

"Nay," Seamus grumbled, staring southeast with a green face. "Likely natives."

"We also saw several more bull captives, along with a night elf." The human explained quickly. "There was a pass to the south of the mountain that would lead directly into the centaur village, with recent signs of passage."

Damon quickly ran through several options before nodding and turning to Seamus once more. "Take the heavy infantry and shaman, a hundred spears, and that golem. I want that pass. I'll take the main force and attack from the north to meet up with you."

Seamus grinned nastily at the thought and saluted him. "We'll see you on the battlefiend, Commander Ashfall."

* * *

It hadn't taken long for Damon to separate his forces, especially with the gryphon riders signaling messages for him. The mages, despite continual failure at establishing contact with their prince, were useful at passing information and several had accompanied Seamus' force south. Branka had added Oghren to a lesser command setting before they left, allowing her husband to direct the Storm Golem during battle away from Damon. He had still given it basic commands to follow before sending it off and was very eager to see it in battle.

His group made their way north around the mountain to a wide plain, centaur tracks heavy upon the ground between the mountain and a canyon. Seamus had recently informed them of conflict with the outermost guards, but the centaur tribe remained unaware. The gryphon pair above his forces were flying much lower now in an attempt to avoid detection in the afternoon sky, a slight haze from the sunbaked earth rising to obscure them. Damon partially atributed that to a mage or a shaman that had stayed with his forces as the men formed a battleline facing southwest towards the village.

"Have the men advance," Damon commanded of his second, who swiftly barked the orders out.

The infantry advanced while the cavalry kept pace a certain distance beside them. Damon and his guard followed just behind the front lines of warriors, eyes trained to the village that was slowly coming into focus. He was just about to order the cavalry to halt when a mage reported heavy fighting in the pass as Seamus fought to hold his position.

His second was already reaching for his warhorn when Damon turned to him. "Two blasts, then another."

The cavalry surged ahead of the main force at the sound of the horn, intending to charge through to Seamus' troops. There were several centaur starting to shout warnings from the village as the infantry followed along with the solitary horn blast. Damon kept a stern command over the infantry even as he watched his cavalry charge past the sparse wooden spikes.

The unprepared centaurs stood no chance of countering the leading knights at the head of the charge and gave ground swiftly. Damon caught sight of several centaurs streaming from a tent that was sent ablaze, apparently Sir Randall had let his mage ride with his men. He ordered his archers to open fire upon the dazed centaurs as the cavalry streamed past them, several bodies already littering the ground.

The men kept a firm line as they entered the village and the centaurs rallied against the attack. The poorly equipped centaurs had minimal protection against archers and had already lost several warriors to the raining death. Their first wave of fighters were crushed against the shields and spears of the men, and it took them over a dozen deaths to stop charging.

"Gelkis!" A large centaur had arrived with several more of his kind. Lifting a crude axe into the air, he roared as he smashed into the shieldwall.

Damon grit his teeth as he watched the centaur widen the gap this warrior had opened, several soldiers falling to the barbarian warleader himself. "I'll take care of that one," Damon growled to his second as he urged his horse forward. "Stormwind!" His warriors stepped aside and allowed him a clear path briefly, which he used to charge the centaur.

His first sword strike was batted aside by the axe which he was then forced to block with his shield. Damon watched the centaur shift to avoid a swing at its chest before he deflected the axe with the flat of his blade. He pulled his mount back several paces as another centaur struck from his left, only to watch as the apparent leader screamed at the interloper in a guttural tongue.

The second centaur was soon cut down by soldiers surging forward to fill the gap, but they avoided the duel going on between opposing commanders. Every attack with his sword was shoved away or avoided, and he found himself defending from that axe more often than he liked. Damon felt his arm going numb swiftly before noticing the lightning dancing across the edge of the axe.

Finally connecting a pattern of the centaurs defence, Damon urged his horse to ram into his opponent as he struck for the chest. The centaur stumbled even as Damon's sword carved a gash across his front. His victory was short-lived however as the centaur gave a roar of pain and Damon found himself blasted from his saddle by lightning, twitching as the current ran through his armour.

Damon groaned as he rolled to avoid another blast of lightning and scrambled to his feet. He blocked the axe with his shield before forcing the centaur away by striking at his forelegs. It was a dirty tactic but had proven effective several times against the centaurs. He whistled loudly as he ducked another bolt of lightning, swinging into the saddle of his horse as it rushed past him.

"You are a worthy opponent," Damon complimented as they circled each other, though the centaur likely did not understand him. "I am a Knight of Stormwind however, and I shall not accept defeat to the likes of barbarians!"

Damon urged his horse forward once more and engaged the centaur in a flurry of blows, aiming to kill his already injured opponent. The centaur gave as good as he got though and Damon soon found himself sporting an injury to his right leg and a large dent in his shield. His opponent had lost the use of his left arm to a particularly powerful thrust that had exposed Damon to the leg centaur had thankfully stopped channeling lightning to his weapon after experiencing the effects of it jumping from the armour to the piercing steel sword.

The centaur warleader finally overextended himself with his axe and Damon took full advantage to run him through, another swing decapitating the beast for good measure. He panted as he took note that the frontline had long since passed the duel, teams of soldiers destroying tents as the army marched. Several dragged squirming bundles out of tents as they did this, and so Damon directed his mount in their direction.

"What's that you have, Soldier?" Damon inquired as he closed in, only to pull his mount to a stop in shock at he recognized an infant centaur.

"Centaur young, Commander." The man nodded to the soldiers around him who were carefully binding the elder ones. "Didn't know what to do with 'em, so me and the boys took to rounding 'em up. None of ours want to kill 'em, you see."

Damon blinked slowly as he processed that information. "Interesting," Damon muttered before nodding to the soldier. "Keep ahead of the rearguard, and by the Light remember that they need fed. Find whatever they use as milk and retrieve it as you go."

"Aye Commander," Damon recieved in reply as he rode away.

* * *

The centaur force had broken when Damon struck their leader down, and his army had forced them into the waiting hands of Seamus. By the time Damon caught up with the fleeing centaur he witnessed the power of the Storm Golem firsthand. Wading into battle beside a pair of earth elementals that had been summoned by the shaman, the golem swept centaur aside with each swing of his spear. The centaur shaman had no answer for the golem as they favoured lightning over the other elements, and that was returned to them in a great arc of electricity that dropped a dozen to the ground at once.

After overseeing the destruction of a vast portion of the centaur tribe, Damon directed Seamus Greybraid and Oghren to take the southeastern remnants. He then sent men to construct a camp at the pass seeing as the sun was already starting to lower and they had injured to tend to. Reluctantly accepting the demands of a priest to be healed, as he needed to be in fighting condition should something unexpected occur, he watched the final push through his spyglass.

Seamus masterfully lead the attack to overwhelm the tribes remaining warriors. While Oghren and the golem carved a path of devastation Seamus directed his men to being rounding up the non-combatant females and the children. The sight caused a frenzy amongst the centaur but Seamus and his twin axes struck down any foolish enough to attempt to stop him. The dwarf then managed to reach the prisoner cages and quickly release the battered prisoners, the female elf having to be carried out by a pair of soldiers due to her injuries.

A quick check on the rearguard reassured him that no centaur had managed to approach his forces from the rear. Damon retired to the camp with victory assured, temporary defences being forced into the ground by his loyal soldiers. Several tents were already up and after spotting his Damon gratefully slipped from his saddle to ensure things were up to standard.

"Inform me when one of the recovered captives can communicate," Damon ordered the nearest soldier, who snapped a sharp salute at his commander.


	4. Chapter 4

Damon regretted the wording of that order immensely that evening. One of the stupid mages decided to use an untested translation spell, knocking himself unconcious from backlash and giving the bullman he used it on a rather severe headache. The natives had been communicating with Seamus by means of the elements but it had been slow going and so one had volunteered for the spell. Sitting in front of his tent and watching the giant slowly shake his head, carefully avoiding injuring anyone with his long horns, Damon gave a long sigh.

"Sir Randall," Damon called for the nearby knight and gave a look of hope at his approach. "Please tell me it wasn't _your_ mage again."

With a quiet chuckle the knight shook his head to deny. "No Commander, he's investigating an herb one of the natives had with them. I actually haven't heard from him in several hours..." Sir Randall trailed off, looking thoughtful.

Damon paled rapidly at that, "I think you may need to check on him."

"That would probably be best Commander," Sir Randall gave a salute and departed.

"Excuse my state," Damon's guest spoke slowly. "I am Magrum, Chieftain of the Ironhoof, and I thank you for freeing my people. We are of the shu'halo, the tauren in your tongue."

The being before Damon sat clad in rough leathers with a very crude hammer resting not far away, obviously set aside for the meeting. "I am Damon Ashfall, Knight of Stormwind. I'm sorry we took so long, but with my people under threat I couldn't move any faster."

Magrum waved the apology aside as he drank from the water they had been provided. "My people survived by will of the spirits. It has always been so." The tauren looked back to his gathered people in the distance. There were barely more than a half dozen survivors and one of them was a young child. "Whether few or many, my tribe lives on."

"Do you need an escort back to your home?" Damon asked quietly after several moments. "We can provide you with one."

The tauren shook his head slowly, mindful of his headache. "The Gelkis centaur burned it all, nothing remains but ash and bones."

Damon winced at the thought of Stormwind lying in such a state. "Where will you go then? Your people will need to rest and the centaur will definitely be riled up."

"We would follow you Damon Ashfall," Magrum replied firmly. "My tribe owes a debt to you, I owe a debt to you."

"But I barely did anything," Damon exclaimed. "I only struck down a few centaur myself during the battle."

The giant before him gave a sad look in return, "I could not avenge my brother, slain by the centaur Khan. I could not save my people who fell to the centaur blades. Earth Mother willing, I would find redemption by your side."

"We've agreed to defeat the Earth Princess with the help of the Ancients," Damon pointed out. "She and her wild centaur offspring destroyed this land."

Magrum Ironhoof lowered his head in shame at that information. "She may have drained the life from these lands, but my ancestors were the ones to wake her. They confused her whispers with that of the Earth Mother and when the elemental awoke this land was turned into Desolace."

Damon looked to the ashamed native sadly, "I suppose your people could find a place among mine. Let us hope that the differences do not prove to be too much."

"The Ironhoof will never forget this," Magrum vowed as he stood. "My line shall not rest until this land has been healed."

Damon had to look quite far up to meet his eyes but he returned the sentiment with a smile. Watching the native lumber away Damon briefly wondered how Commander Greybraid would react. That was going to be an amusing meeting at least. Almost as amusing as the look on his face once he realized the tauren weren't the only ones Damon returned with.

This brought him to another mess of trouble, as only three females among the centaur were considered 'non-combatant' and that was caused by a lack of weapons. Damon kept them with the younglings regardless of the fact that they had to be chained, the youngest would starve without them. When he pointed this out to the dwarven guards they swore quietly but kept a diligent watch as none could wish that fate on a child regardless of race.

Seamus was off communicating with the local elemental spirits now that dialogue had been properly opened between the two races. The dwarf seemed eager to spread the healing nature of the land as quickly as possible so Damon let him be. This wasteland wasn't to anyones liking as far as Damon was concerned, barring the centaur of course.

The elf was still recieving healing from a shaman and priest duo. She had been carrying a message addressed to him and had apparently fought quite violently to avoid capture if her injuries were to be judged. It was sadly written in the elven language and so Damon and his men were unable to read it without the messenger.

"Of course it had to be in elvish," Damon grumbled, glaring at the letter in his hands. "Did the translation spell wear off before she wrote this?"

"Elder Rusthorn can read elvish." Damon twitched at Magrum having managed to silently approach. "If you have an instrument to write with that I can manage, I believe we could translate that into your tongue."

Damon considered the offer briefly before agreeing. "See if you can't find Sir Randall and his mage. They can assist in translating from your language to ours, if you'll allow me to observe the elvish translation." Damon waved the letter in his hand slowly. "I can't let something like this out of my sight, but with accurate translations learning both languages would be vastly easier than spells."

* * *

Damon had stayed up well into the night with the tauren. Elder Rusthorn actually had gleaming black horns, but apparently had a fondness for rusting things with fire and water shaman magic. Magrum assured him that the Elder only did this in combat and the Elder rarely saw much of that, preferring to tell stories of the tribes history. Damon had watched in awe as Magrum carefully grasped the largest quill Damon owned, slowly adding words to a sheet as Elder Rusthorn read in his native tongue.

Now he sat in the morning light watching the final translation being written down, the mage holding himself rigid in fear of failure. It was mildly amusing as Sir Randall sat behind the mage with a smile as he breathed heavily as if down the poor fools neck. Magrum was skillfully avoiding tipping the mage off to the scare tactic as he recited the letter word for word.

Damon didn't actually need the last translation, considering Magrum could do it, but examples of the other languages were necessary. When the mage, who Damon learned was named Michael, finally finished the letter he swiftly fled the tent. Damon picked up the translation before looking to Sir Randall who failed to hold in his snickering.

"That one has too much energy," Magrum commented slowly, causing both mens eyes to snap to him. "He needs a strong mate."

Damon had to hide his smile as Sir Randall doubled over with restrained laughter. "There's a bit more to it than for our kind."

"Don't I know it," Randall gasped out from his chair. "The wife will be laughing about that one for weeks."

Damon gave a chuckle before proceeding to read. _"Damon 'the Stormbringer' Ashfall, Knight of Stormwind,"_ Damon read off, amusement on his face. _"Despite the countless raids upon our kind and the very threat they pose to natural order, Sentinel leadership has refused to commit to a war with the centaur. They have also denied the deployment of 'active' patrols to the region, even knowing the danger the awakened Ancients are in."_ Damon bit back a complaint as he noticed the next line, cutting off Sir Randall's attempt to speak with a glance. _"I have spent several favors to ensure material aid for your people, including several shipments of food. I have also advised several of my Sentinel sisters of the plight of Desolace, Stormbringer, so expect the occasional traveler along with the food and arrows. Shandris Feathermoon, Sentinel."_

"Well Commander," Sir Randall spoke out first, "I don't know about the arrows but we need the food."

"I am aware of our lack of farmland Sir Randall," Damon replied carefully. "The cliffs follow the land for several miles, we just haven't managed to clear it of the magically fueled trees. Commander Greybraid has been using that lumber for the gatehouses and walls."

It was true enough. The lumber was extremely difficult to cut through, and before Damon departed Greybraid had asked Branka for help solving the issue. He was slightly worried about the solution as the magically dense forest stretched along the coast for miles. The old dwarf was gnashing at the bit to get that lumber, followed closely behind by the mages and craftsmen.

"Magically fueled trees?" Chietain Magrun sounded confused and Damon gave him a brief explanation. "Maybe one of my tribesmen will find their path there. Our people used to tend to the groves that remained in this land long ago, before the centaur pushed us out. The title of Stormbringer is fitting in a way."

"Your people could probably fell a tree far more easily," Damon agreed as he looked upon the Tauren. "If they can cut it down they're welcome to it, especially if they want to farm the land."

"That will give my mate and I something to do," Magrum mused. "The little one is just old enough to sit and listen to the Elder."

"I don't supposed you have a warrior among your tribe that you would like to outfit heavily, do you?" Damon asked as he thought of something. "I'd love to see that on the battlefield against the centaur."

Chieftain Magrum chuckled deeply as he stood, carefully ducking to avoid piercing the tent roof with his horns. "If you will it, I shall make the heavens themselves tremble before you, Stormbringer."

Sir Randall looked up, a look of curiosity crossing his face. "Some heavy plate, a new warhammer, and he could go right through most gates the centaur are likely to build. But aren't you a shaman, won't that interfere with casting?"

"I hold the potential, but nothing more. I have walked the warrior's path for many seasons." That was certainly saying something as Chieftain Magrum felt somewhere upwards of his third decade to Damon. "My kinsman Ahpo is a shaman, as is the Elder. My mate's father will likely join me on the battlefield as well."

"Well then, let's see about getting our men home." Damon put the letter and the translations in his pouch, resolving to go over them with a fine tooth comb. He tapped the jar containing the acorn, noticing a slightly silver glow to it now. "I don't know about you, but I need a good wash." Magrum definitely needed it, having been held captive for several days. There was only so much water to go on in the wastelands.

* * *

They sent the elf ahead by gryphon, and Damon turned his forces home. They had lost two dozen men to the centaur tribe in battle, with dozens more wounded from the heavy fightning. The surprise attack had proven effective but the losses were still too heavy in Damon's mind. The score or so of centaur children they now had to raise didn't help matters.

Sir Randall, Chieftain Magrum with several tauren, and half of the cavalry split from the main force after a while and turned to the southwest. Chieftain Magrum had mentioned a beast capable of pulling wagons, some massive lizard called a kodo. Apparently the tribe had a small herd of them before they were attacked and Damon sent them off in search of any of the surviving beasts.

The main force made good time once they were heading west. Despite the march being relatively easy the army was still tense being so close to centaur territory. Damon made plans to get more detailed scouting accomplished as any attempt to take the mountain would be a logistics nightmare. The metal Storm Golem was something that Damon hoped to request several more of, depending on how much Branka would charge them. In teams of two or four the golems could greatly upset any battlefield against the centaur.

The afternoon sun was shining brightly upon their approach home when Damon heard heavy footsteps pounding to the south. Snapping his gaze in that direction he brought his mount to a shocked halt at the sight of Sir Randall returning with three great beasts mounted by tauren. Chieftain Magrum rode beside the human knight astride a large white lizard with two smaller grey beasts trailing them.

Fighting his astonishment at the sheer size of the creatures he waved them to the rear of the line to prevent any issues as the palisade came into view of the leading troops. Happy shouts sprung from their throats at the sight of their new home, and they subtly picked up the pace without breaking formation. Damon let them continue, just as eager to get back as they were.

Commander Greybraid was waiting for them mounted upon a ram. The dwarf had a large smile on his face that dropped when he caught sight of the centaur prisoners. Curiosity soon replaced that as the tauren and kodo walked through the gatehouse, Greybraid eyeing between the gatehouse and white kodo.

"Yer mighty lucky we went with large gates," Commander Greybraid grumbled to Damon as he approached. "How the hell did that thing get past the barricade?"

"Carefully," Damon replied with a grin. Damon waved Magrum and the two who had volunteered for combat forward before clearing his throat. "Commander Corven Greybraid, allow me to introduce you to Chieftain Magrum Ironhoof of the tauren."

The aged dwarf almost immediately stuck a gloved hand out for the tauren to grasp. "Wish we had some like you when those blasted orcs came. A little armour would go a long way with you, aye?"

The tauren nodded together before the eldest spoke in his native tongue, a graying warrior carrying the biggest totem Damon had ever seen. "My mate's father would prefer something he can move in. Our traditional weapons require some skill," Magrum explained before the obviously youngest snorted. "His son disagrees."

"Take them to the forge and let them loose among the smiths," Damon suggested with a grin. "I don't think the smiths are going to argue with their choices."

Commander Greybraid laughed before barking a command out in dwarven to his aide, the poor dwarf scurrying forward to guide the tauren. "I was a bit confused by yer message lad. Now I can see what you meant. I got the boys workin' on cells for the centaur but I don't rightly think that was it."

Damon shook his head. "That could work for the adult females, and we could put the youngest in with them temporarily, but the others need room. I'd prefer to keep them close to each other though." He also intended to keep them firmly away from the main civilian population until word had spread, and under heavy guard. The less contact emotional refugees had with the young the better.

The dwarf stroked his braided beard as he looked to the centaur group. "I might have an idea about that Commander."

Damon let the dwarf lead him south below the cliffside. His curiosity rose when he passed by the entry to the mines and the dwarf didn't slow. Several minutes later Greybraid stopped and Damon looked in shock at a massive hole into the cliff face. Except the walls and edges were far too perfect.

"I've ordered somethin' from Branka, and figured to open another mine up," Commander Greybraid explained as he urged his mount forward into the opening. "Unfortunately we came across a cavern so we scrapped that idea."

"A cavern?" Damon asked as he followed into the surprisingly well lit tunnel. Torches lined the wall along their path for a few dozen feet into the darkness.

"Aye, a cavern. Not much in it except an underground spring." The dwarf stopped his mount suddenly and Damon looked ahead.

The tunnel widened dramatically up ahead, so much so that Damon could not make out the sides except for the torches in the darkness. He urged his mount onward the last few feet and saw that the roof stretched well out of reach even if he carried a spear. The quiet sound of gently moving water echoed from his left and he followed it to find the aforementioned spring.

"The water's safe for drinkin' Commander," Greybraid called out from the caverns entrance.

Sliding from his saddle Damon retrieved his waterskin to test those words. He found the water surprisingly clear, torchlight dancing upon it to reveal the shallow bottom. It was also cold enough to make him shiver when he brought the waterskin back to his lips before letting his mount drink. Damon watched the waters movement as the underground river that fed the spring continued on through. Opening a mine under moving water probably wouldn't be the brightest idea, sure, but this cavern was instead perfect for Damon's needs.

Elder Rusthorn had sequestered himself in the cavern, patiently teaching the young centaur his language with the aid of one of the centaur females. She had apparently been captured from a friendlier tribe by the Gelkis. Taking advantage of the opportunity Damon quickly found a pair of the youngest dwarves around and sent them to sit in on the lessons. Sleeping mats and a few large tents were swiftly constructed and sent into the caverns for the young and their minders.

Commander Greybraid had apparently ordered several stone golems from Branka. The female dwarf was only too happy to make eight foot golems to patrol the streets and help cut the magical wood. When asked why Greybraid chose eight feet Damon was informed that if the golems were too large they'd have trouble fitting everywhere, like the Storm Golem that found itself unable to enter most buildings. They were still working on widening several doors for the tauren to use as well, so a guideline was useful.

The stone golems also wouldn't carry weapons, their large stone fists more than enough to pulverize any threat. Instead of the lightning channeling runes that ran across their current golem Branka would be putting weather resisting and durability runes on them. The sea could do quite some damage to stone, as far as Damon was aware, so he conceded the point to Commander Greybraid.

The rest of the Ironhoof tribe had settled around the entrance to deter any unwanted visitors, and just the sight of the massive tauren sent cowardly civilians running. Several priests had also hauled one of their own to Damon and claimed the man was attempting to incite a riot, painting non-humans as monsters that needed to be cleansed and using the war with the orcs as an example to rally people against the tauren.

"You do realize that under martial law I should rightfully take your head, correct? A riot among our people is really the last thing I need to deal with." Damon stared down the priests who tried to break from the grasps of the knights beside him. "You also realize that our dwarven allies are non-human, don't you?"

"Those foul monsters are in league with them I tell you!" The priest was wild-eyed and struggling violently. "All shall be cleansed by the power of the Holy Light! Corrupted filth like you have no right to command us!" The man spit at Damon though only managed to hit his armoured boot.

"Corrupted?" Damon questioned, eyeing the spittle in disinterest.

"Your non-human ancestry, fool! You think we do not know? You think us blind to your elvish lies? You seek to enslave us all to your foul ways!" The man continued to rant for several moments, until one of the knights restraining him sent a fist into the priests temple when he insisted that Damon's mother was a loose woman.

Once the priest was unconcious Damon sighed and wiped the spit away with a rag. "Lock him up and keep a mixed guard on him. I want his associates questioned thoroughly, and if the foolish rants reveal anything important it is to be brought to myself or Commander Greybraid immediately."

"Right away Commander Ashfall." The knights dragged the priest away from Damon to introduce him to Greybraid's new cells.

Several of the more stubborn humans had condemned the dwarves for not coming to their aid, the orcs for the loss of life and destruction wrought upon their kingdom, and even the mages and knights for failing to destroy the Horde. Damon rotated the jar holding the acorn as he wrote new instructions for Commander Greybraid to increase the guard near the cavern. A vigilant eye was needed in order to keep the more wild citizens from starting any trouble with their new allies.

"Why do we even have these problems?" Damon asked himself as he noticed the silver glow around the acorn had changed to gold. "And what is with the glowing?" He carefully put the acorn aside as he returned to the mountain of paperwork piling up on his desk, intending to clear at least some of it.

* * *

 _ **AN: That's it for what I have currently, will look into getting around to another chapter soon hopefully.**_


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: Sorry it took so long, holiday season, birthdays, and cold weather making me prefer to bundle up and read rather than write. Did some minor editing in the first two chapters when I noticed some rather obvious mistakes that I had missed when tired as well. And I hope my little scene break lines don't bug anyone but I need them to keep track myself so hehe. I've tried to make sure all the little personalities are amusing and fit with the obvious tension that being refugees in an unknown land would bring. Hope you enjoy.**

* * *

Damon awoke early in the morning to find a storm blowing through the settlement. Men and women scrambled to secure their meagre belongings as the rain soaked the landscape. He sighed as he let the flap fall, resigned to a day of management. Not much would get done outside with the heavy winds and rain.

It took another hour for a soaked Jonathan to appear. "The gryphons are grounded because of the storm, milord. Several lightning strikes were too close for their comfort."

Damon gave a small smile and waved the boy over to the brazier. "That doesn't surprise me, this storm is a big one."

"R-right milord," Jonathan responded as he tried to dry off. "Commander Greybraid said that the roadwork would be delayed because of the weather. I'm sorry I couldn't visit anyone else before coming here, I'm not used to the rain."

Damon looked up from his paperwork and noted the shabby cloak the boy wore. "We'll have to get you a new cloak," Damon mused quietly. "And a satchel for any documents you need to carry."

"I've got a satchel sir." He proved this by bringing a slightly damp bag out from beneath his cloak. "I just didn't have any papers to bring."

"Well when you get a chance ask... Who _is_ in charge of the supplies?" Damon thought back over the many papers he had read but couldn't remember.

"Dame Millicent from Lakeshire is the supply officer." The boy gave a shiver and carefully stepped closer to the brazier. "She's been keeping a stern eye on everyone, milord."

"Supply officers sometimes have to," Damon informed his squire. "Regardless, tell her I sent you for a new cloak. I can't have you freezing in a sudden storm with important documents after all."

Returning his attention to the documents before him, he noted with mild interest that one of the tauren apparently used a foreign magic the night before in front of several witnesses. The fools were shocked when several plants grew from the ground bearing fruit, and fled to Commander Greybraid to report it. Greybraid apparently had the fruit tested and once assured it wouldn't poison him he sampled it. His notes said that the various fruit looked and tasted like any other.

That was a stroke of good fortune as the stockpile of food was slowly disappearing, even with it being rationed out. Damon hoped that the elves really did send relief supplies or the rations would grow even smaller for his people. Starvation was something he did not want to face, so he made a note to ask Chieftain Ironhoof to have that strange magic used on the farms.

Branka was under pressure to fill the order for golems, but according to Oghren she was loving the work. As long as the stress didn't break her Damon was content with the speed of production, though finding her an apprentice or two could prove beneficial. It was unlikely she would share the secret to forging golems with them but having them fetch tools and material should help. The process for finding someone the smith could tolerate would likely take a while, so it was best to get started.

"Yes, that needs looked into," Damon muttered as he wrote a quick note and stuck it in his outgoing paperwork. Waving his mostly dry squire to take the papers he paused in his reading and looked at the boy. "Visit supply first and get that cloak. That note can go to Master Sergeant Oghren before you head to the rest."

"Yes milord," Jonathan replied as he swifted packed up the papers and departed, wrapping his cloak tightly around himself.

* * *

Damon spent the rest of the morning eliminating his paperwork, and after succeeding just before lunch, decided to take some food to Branka and Oghren and inspect the golems. Jonathan looked up from his reading but was waved off before Damon clasped his cloak closed.

"I'll be checking in on the golem project and grabbing a meal," Damon told the boy. "You're free until the evening meal once you finish that chapter."

"Milord, don't forget the mages requested a meeting later. They've holed up in the lower floors of the barracks," Jonathan replied as he turned the page.

Damon gave a grunt as he left the tent and was swiftly pelted by the rain. Partial walls had been built around the cook fires to provide better shelter from the elements, for which Damon found himself grateful as he ducked inside the request the food. He paused as he realized the inside was slowly coming to resemble a dwarven bunker and he found the thought amusing. Burdened by the tray of food it took him several long minutes to make his way to the forge, and he almost slipped into the mud more than once.

As he approached the stone structure that contained the forge he could hear a hammer striking metal. "Hello! Can someone get the door?" Damon called out as he stood outside under the overhang of the roof.

The sound of hammering cut out, revealing a sharp tapping, before Oghren opened the door. "Hullo Commander, do I smell food?"

"Let me inside already," Damon laughed as he stepped through the doorway. "Sounded like you were helping Branka out."

"Oh aye," Oghren replied happily before he quickly grimaced. "It's murder to my head though."

"And who went out to drink?" Branka's voice rung out from deeper inside the building, causing her husband to wince.

"Blasted 'regulations' restricting drinking," Oghren muttered as he took the tray from Damon after clearing a table of various tools. "Come eat you crazy woman!"

"In a minute," Brank replied to his shout. "I'm almost done on this shoulder."

"So things are going well then," Damon remarked while glancing at some half-carved stones nearby. "Are any of the golems ready?"

Looking up from his bowl of soup Oghren smiled. "We got two o' the stone and one iron finishin tonight. Branka had to replace one o' the shoulder pieces on the first one and decided to do a bit o' upgrading on the runes."

"And it was a good thing I did." Branka approached the table, wiping her hands with a cloth. "The weather protection I inscribed onto that armor wasn't quite holding up against the storm."

"Stone golems are a bit easier to Branka," Oghren supplied as he passed his wife a bowl. "The blasted spear and shield for a Storm Golem is probably the worst. All those runes. Supplies being what they are though, stone works just fine."

Damon thought about that for a moment before shrugging. "Truth be told, unless the miners come across far more iron than they currently are there is no way we can make more than a couple Storm Golems anyway. There's too much need for iron and steel in construction and arming the men to do otherwise."

"The things an army of those could do though..." Branka happily occupied herself with her thoughts as she ate, ignoring the questioning look Oghren directed her way.

"I'd personally love for a dozen or so but that is months off." Damon sighed as he looked at his swiftly emptying bowl. "I have to go deal with the mages after this, Light only knows what they've gotten up to down there."

"Commander, I got the strangest message earlier. Do you really intend to put some poor apprentice to work with Branka?" Oghren looked at little worried at the thought. "She'll tear that poor soul apart."

"I don't need an apprentice," Branka spoke up as she finished her meal. "They'd only get in the way, slow me down with questions of 'why', and drop my tools!"

"I was thinking more like two," Damon replied slowly as he watched Branka's face twitch. "That way they can bug each other instead of you, of course. And you'd be able to send them scurrying about for materials."

"Aye, there is that." The look at the short woman's face sent a chill down Damon's spine as he swiftly finished eating. "Better be dwarves though. Or maybe a dwarf and a human? Hmm."

Damon stood and stretched briefly. "Will you return those to Cook for me Oghren, I should get down and make sure the mages down blow us all up. Again."

"No problem Commander," Oghren nodded and waved as Damon left the table.

* * *

The barracks was surprisingly tidy to Damon's eyes as he walked through, seeking the mages in the basement. It was likely that Greybraid had enforced proper order among the soldiers and that they feared his creative punishments should the new barracks not be up to his standards. Damon was very familiar with the dwarf knight and his ways, so much so that he gave a slight chuckle at a young squire dutifully mopping the floors.

The basement was almost the opposite, reagents scattered across the open room except for an area around a stone arch against the farthest wall. Several mages were surrounding it and judging by the enthusiam they displayed in their conversation they were unlikely to notice Damon if he let them continue. He likely would have except his curiosity about the arch drove him to approach the group.

"What's all this?" Damon asked as he gestured to the archway, causing the mages to swiftly turn and still at the sight of him. "And please, for the love of the Light, clean this place up once in a while."

"Commander, it's good to see you again." A rather buxom redheaded mage woman stepped forward with a smile. "We've been attempting to establish a portal to Lordaeron, but it seems we are so far west the distance has made our attempts fail."

Damon blinked briefly, running through several questions in his head and finally deciding upon one. "So you used the stars to estimate our location?" At the nods of the mages he sighed. "And what is that archway for then?"

"In our attempts at communicating with our fellows, we realized that the only way to form a portal over such a distance was to establish a permanent gateway." The woman gestured to the stone arch behind her with excitement. "Once we decided upon a form we spent all our efforts into proper construction and stability, seeking to reduce the risks that tying it to a leyline would produce. The natural magics in this land are as damaged as the landscape, but of course you know that."

Damon actually did not, but nodded anyways. "So in order to power the thing you needed a stable form for it."

"Indeed Commander, and soon the gateway will be complete. We've been discussing the best way to anchor it, and some of my fellows seem to believe short bursts of energy to supply it would have allowed for a larger portal. I however believe that while a steady supply of energy means the portal size is restricted, the risks are far lower for anything unexpected to occur." The looks the woman was giving him was slightly unsettling but at least she seemed intelligent enough.

"I agree, I would rather have a limited but steady connection than another risky alternative blowing up in our faces," Damon replied, looking sternly around at all the mages. "Now is not the time for risky experiments, nor can we afford for you to kill yourselves to test theories that are unsafe. Go ahead and finish the construction, but make sure you alert Greybraid and have armed guards ready should the portal lead somewhere unsafe."

"Of course sir." The group of mages replied, excitement still evident upon their faces.

"We simply need one of the shaman to ground the connection to the land, once that is accomplished we can open the portal and establish communications." The redhead gave the portal a quick look before turning back to Damon. "Maybe two shaman."

"I'll send Seamus and one of his fellows to give you a hand, no worries. Now, forgive me madam, but I can't recall your name," Damon was really hoping he hadn't been introduced to her already, offending a mage was never a bright idea.

"I am Evelyn my lord." The woman gave a throaty chuckle that made several of her fellows shiver and back away from her. "We've never met, though I have served under your command for several months now."

"My apologies for the delayed meeting then, Miss Evelyn," Damon replied as he watched the reactions of the other mages. "Unless one of you has been otherwise appointed, you're in charge here. I'll go speak to Greybraid and have the shaman down here within the hour if they are around."

"Thank you my lord." Evelyn and the other mages bowed or saluted as he turned and swiftly made his way back upstairs, thoroughly unsettled.

* * *

After informing Greybraid of the mages need, and with his promise to send Seamus their way secured, Damon decided to check on his elven guest. It likely wouldn't be too long before she awoke and he would prefer to get that meeting out of the way as swiftly as possible. Indeed he was considering having one of the ships take her back to her people, as they were likely worried about her absence and he did not need a diplomatic incident on his hands.

He gave a slight pause halfway up the hillside as he wondered where the rest of the smiths were set up if Branka had command of the main forge. Shielding his eyes from the rain he looked to the south and spotted a makeshift structure between the barracks and the mine, and even from the distance he could see several plumes of smoke rising into the air. Damon was satisfied by that location as it meant the ore wouldn't have to be dragged through the mud uphill, and he was quite happy to let Branka remain in control of her current workshop.

His father had often told him that you do not upset a craftsman unless you wished for a malfunction at the worst time. He had no wish to test the loyalty of the Storm Golem over such a silly thing, and it kept the golems secure as they were constructed and tested well away from a majority of the civilians. Biting off a curse as he pulled his boot from the mud attempting to trap it, Damon continued his journey back up the hill.

Approaching the medical tent Damon gave a nod to the two guards who saluted when they spotted him, stopping just inside the tent to avoid tracking mud through. "Healer, report on the elf," Damon called softly in an attempt not the wake the injured soldiers occupying the tent.

Two men looked up from whatever they were doing at a bedside before the shorter one swiftly made his way to Damon. "Healer Briar, Commander. Physically our guest has recovered from her stay among the savages, and after checking and rechecking we can rest assured that she is under no poison or spell to keep her unconcious."

"So she hasn't awoken?" Damon gave a glance towards a curtained off area of the tent where another guard and a female healer were standing near. "When can we expect her to be up?"

The shorter man shrugged before answering, "I can only assume within the next day or so Commander, it is likely that she is mentally recovering from her capture. Several of her wounds were quite deep and in the interest of safety we kept her asleep as we worked, but she should be fine."

"Good, I had been considering shipping her back to her people to get the care she needed if we could not provide it," Damon commented. "Is there anything else you require for your patients Healer Briar?"

The healer cautiously looked back to his fellow who was occupied tending to a soldier before turning back to Damon. "If you can make sure another female healer is assigned to us it would ease my mind Commander," Healer Briar said quietly, voice barely reaching Damon. "My fellow is doing his duty but he has a strong hatred of trolls and the slight resemblance is not doing him any favors. He's a good man, but I spent enough time in Dalaran to know that diplomacy can ill afford a stressed healer. Another healer should help keep us calmed down a bit."

Damon gave him a small nod before clapping a hand onto his shoulder, "I'll make sure you get those extra bandages and potions before the day ends. We'll be increasing patrols do to the weather and I don't want some poor fool suffering without because of it."

"Thank you very much Commander Ashfall," Healer Briar gave a relieved sigh. "Several priests are down below making sure the prisoners and our new allies are healthy, so any help is appreciated."

"I'd best get back to my tent and attempts at learning the tauren and elven languages as quickly as I can. Sorry about the mud," Damon very carefully did not look down to see how much he had dragged in.

The healer waved it off with a laugh and since Damon was now mostly warmed up again he swiftly left the medical tent and went for his own. The rain had let up a little thankfully, and even the wind seemed to have calmed some, so he was soon back in the tent with the language examples in hand. After putting the obviously magical acorn beside his papers he got to work on learning yet again, fond memories of his family library flashing through his head.

* * *

"Una'fe. Refuge. An'she. Sun. The Sun?" Damon blinked in confusion at that, not understanding the exact meaning. "Ugh and the elven language is just as confusing."

"Why not just have of the mages enchant something that will translate for you milord?" The voice of his squire startled Damon out of his thoughts and he looked up to see the boy was also confused. "Wouldn't that be easier on you?"

Damon sighed as he put the papers down. "It likely would be easier but I have to at least try. Unfortunately I am definitely not gifted with languages, as my early attempts at learning Dwarven and Thalassian showed me." He glanced at his squire before looking back to the translations. "You should attempt to learn these as well, if only a few phrases. It seems to get harder the older you get unless you're already used to it."

"Yes milord," Jonathan sighed and was about to take a seat before the land started shaking slightly. "What's going on?!"

Damon made sure the jar holding his acorn was ok and then stood once the shaking stopped. "Something tells me our mages did something, yet again. Hopefully this time it will have been their job and not something that will give me a headache."

Upon leaving the tent they discovered a large number of the refugees already heading towards Damon, fear upon many faces in the crowd. Smoothing his face to hide his thoughts Damon inwardly sighed at the size of the crowd blocking his path. The only good thing was the rain had finally let up aside from a few sprinkles here and there. Spotting Sir Randall nearby Damon gave him a nod in the direction of the crowd and the knight jumped to obey.

"Hold! Hold damn you," Sir Randall's voice called out as he and his men swiftly intercepted the crowd despite the quite vocal protests. "The Commander doesn't need an unruly mob making his job any harder. Calm yourselves!"

"But the land was shaking! What's next, rocks from the sky?!" A voice called out from among the crowd.

Giving the mountain towering above them a speculative glance Damon stepped forward in order to reassure his people. "People of Stormwind, hear me!" Once the crowd had quieted down a bit he continued, "I was recently informed of some minor success in regards to connecting to Lordaeron and gave the mages attempting it permission to continue. It was likely such an attempt was what caused the earthquake, but rest assured we have several talented shaman available to prevent a catastrophe from happening. Now I call upon those valiant and loyal souls among you to lend your support to the mages as they seek to connect us to our Prince Varian and Lord Lothar in Lordaeron."

Damon gazed out at the crowd, noting several knights among them calming the others. "I know that tough times are upon us all, but through the diligence of our knights, soldiers, and commonfolk we can recover. The Light will protect us even in these dark times, though many of our loved ones have fallen. Now I must see if our efforts have succeed so have faith in the Light, and in Stormwind, and we shall once more stand above all challenges."

Swiftly making his way through the now silent crowd that parted for him, Damon inwardly gave a sigh of relief. Commander Greybraid had taken care of the initial speeches for him after their landing as he was more focused on organizing the command structure in order to maintain peace among the refugees. Public speaking was something he'd had to do a few times while rising up the ranks of the military, being one of the few actual Knight-Commanders available during the war against the orc invaders but it was never something he looked forward too. He would much rather spend his time among books and maps than stand before crowds seeking guidance but he knew his duty and he would fulfill it to his best abilities.

As he approached the barracks he noticed several of the soldiers giving wary looks to the building. Not knowing what to expect he swiftly gathered a small squad to follow him into the building, noting the hulking form of one of the tauren among them. The inside of the barracks was in a definite state of disarray as much of the furniture that they passed had been knocked over and most of the fragile objects were now in pieces. He sincerely hoped that nobody lost a family keepsake to the mess as he did not need an emotional soldier set loose among the others.

After dealing with the basement door being stuck and descending the stairs, Damon discovered Seamus and the other shaman slowly picking themselves up off the floor. "Hey Commander," Seamus greeted as he grimaced from the unexpected nap. "I think we got the connection established, but the mages are out of it for now."

Indeed they were, as all of the mages were lying around the glowing portal of the archway in a semi-circle. Noticing the mage Evelyn in the center he stepped forward cautiously, eyes scanning for any magical anomaly that sought to lash out at him. Standing above the woman he reached down and shook her by the shoulder as he watched the swirling blue portal in the room.

"Wha'?" The mage was obviously tired if the way her eyes slowly opened was any indication. "Hello Commander, did it work?"

"See for yourself," Damon replied as he carefully helped the woman sit up, unsure if she was injured or not. "It certainly looks like a portal, but I was more focused on military history than magic during my studies."

Evelyn gave a short laugh before groaning. "I certainly hope that portal works, I don't think we can do that again until the leylines recover. If it wasn't for the shaman stabilising the thing our remains would be at the bottom of a crater." She slowly stood on shaking legs, leaning heavily against Damon in the process. "It seems the connection is stable, but the only way of knowing where it leads is to either send someone through or hope something friendly comes here. I don't know about you Commander, but I think we should take the initiative in regards to it."

Damon smiled before he turned to Jonathan, his loyal squire standing a short distance away. "Send for Sir Randall, his mage, and at least two priests. Preferably one skilled in diplomacy." Looking at the soldiers that followed him he gave a nod at seeing them help the other mages up and righting the furniture. "Four guards at the doorway upstairs, four down here. Nobody in or out without permission from myself or Commander Greybraid. I don't want anything going wrong with this portal or someone will find themselves executed."

"Right away milord!" Jonathan replied with a salute before sprinting away.

Damon turned back and kept his eyes on the portal as Evelyn and the other mages went to sit down and recover. "Let's hope this works out."


	6. Chapter 6

Damon stared at the priests standing demandingly before him with a stern eye. Just last night he had given a speech to the people and sent Sir Randall, brave and loyal man that he is, through a portal to an unknown destination. The man had sworn, live or die, to deliver his message to Lordaeron should the portal not reach it. Now the priests stood before him looked to assert their position and take over the guard duties for the centaur young, which had the loyal men following Sir Randall practically up in arms.

Corven Greybraid, experienced commander that he was, had already forseen the need to station his son and the tauren nearby in worry of problems. Three arguments had already been diverted by fear of a raging dwarf and a mountain or two of muscle, which was worrying. The priest Damon had ordered arrested had been a hardline radical and recieved a summary execution once the man besmirched their fallen King and lost Prince. Luckily it seemed that even the priests were aghast at the man and his actions, but it still drove Damon to quick anger which only helped reinforce his position among the more nationalistic of his refugees and kept the place in line.

The stories of Damon and his rage towards the orcs during the war carefully kept the various demanding factions in line more than any effort he gave them, so he had let a few warriors know some tales to help spread. He was mostly impressed that thin and squeaky priests had the gall to actually demand construction of a holy place, but he really shouldn't be. He had invoked the name of the Light, and these priests would of course leap at the chance to get ahead.

"You really think this is the time for your demands, Fathers?" Damon recieved several stern gazes in return but most were so weak he didn't notice them. "And how do you expect me to accomplish this?"

"It doesn't matter how Sir Ashfall," the squeakiest of the priests spoke, noticeably larger than most of his fellows. "The Church of the Holy Light needs a voice in these times, why even now the people call for a holy place at Ashfall Landing an-"

"What landing?" Damon quickly asked, cutting off the priest.

"The others have been calling it that Sir," Jonathan spoke up, rigid and straightbacked at his knights side at the presence of the priests. "I heard several of the men at the fires remark about it, and Commander Greybraid didn't seem to dispute it."

"Our refugees have been so reassured of your leadership that they seemed to have named our settlement after you. Any true settlement needs a place of worship, which you will give us because the people want it." The smugness at catching Damon out iritated him as the man continued on. "I believe Ashfall Landing is apt as any name, don't you Sir Commander? Especially now as your family..."

"Watch your tongue," Damon growled as the priest trailed off knowingly. "You seem to forget that you are also a refugee in a camp filled with Stormwind military, and as such this outpost is firmly under the authority vested unto me by the King of Stormwind."

"What my fellow priest was saying Commander, is that some voices are rather louder than most." Another priest stepped forward and looked to have served the military himself at one point. "Unfortunately they may also not be the wisest, as this has shown," he remarked as he glared at his fellow. "We simply fear all this fighting in these dark times will call for help from the priesthood, and we seek to have a home for ourselves. It would make it far easier for the people to find us in times of need so that we may aid them, as the tents limit space and cleanliness in even the finest."

"I'm grateful to have a number of your bravest and finest among us," Damon replied with a nod. Most of the priests Damon currently had with him were the more sensible and brave folk that had stayed to lead and tend to the civilians as long as they could. Damon had kept open lines to them during the evacuation and had been forced to pull them out himself with the last of the civilians. "I remember several brave men from your priesthood had stayed until the end, so maybe you and one of your brothers should remain to speak with me. I have to keep things running, after all, and too many voices all at once just lends to foolishness."

The muscled middle aged priest smiled slightly and gave a nod before quietly speaking with his fellows in a corner of the tent. Shortly after several left, the largest much more quietly than he had entered. Damon took the chance to pull several maps to the table before his eye caught on something interesting. The mountain northwest of the centaur camp they had destroyed had finally been added in by the scribes, and Damon wanted an outpost on his. Something to plan for.

"Ok," Damon started once the priest and a priestess remained, "I have here the basic plans, barring security concerns, for our settlement. Disregarding the small chapel in the planned keep, which your fellow priests have already deemed inadequate, where should I build?"

That was a rather difficult question for the priests, as Damon had sat for hours with Corven Greybraid and worked the plans over. They had even bounced ideas off of Jonathan and Seamus for different viewpoints. Not one yard of space was unaccounted for in the design, even for horses and a small memorial to honor Stormwind. Even now the stonemasons were carving a hulking monolith over 20 feet tall after having it dragged into place by golems.

"May we have a moment to discuss things?" Damon gave the man a nod. "Thank you."

Eyes on the frontier map on his desk he waited patiently as the priests overlooked things. How would he best go about getting an outpost on that mountain. He'd need dwarves, for sure. He'd need their stonemasons, miners, engineers, and shaman. Especially for healing the land and keeping up communication portals, if they needed one. Need some mages and hunters for faster communcation. Not good, as they weren't regular forces. Specialists were always more annoying to work with, even if they did jobs that the rank and file couldn't. But who could command it?

Damon couldn't go, the place would fall apart with him to beat them into line, despite Greybraid and his efforts. Greybraid wouldn't do it, except as a very big favor, since the dwarf was keeping a heavy portion of the trouble off Damon as it was with how efficient he was. Seamus couldn't do it, as while he could command a fight the paperwork would drive him insane. Sir Randall was off through the portal, even though he would've been ideal.

"What do you think?" Damon pointed to the mountain for his squire to look at. "How would we get proper fortifications here?"

"Is that a trick?" Jonathan asked quietly, glancing up at the distracted priests working over the plans. "It seems easy."

"Oh? Do tell," Damon encouraged with a grin. "How will I get this?"

"Make the priests do it."

Damon froze before running through several scenarios. Yes, that could work. Boot the priests out, give them an objective, and force them to research for him. The common folk would focus on the cause of whatever the priests spewed, unless it really went against their desires. A victory monument over the defeat of the centaur tribe and a proper garrison would allow for the priests and any pilgrim seeking them out to be safe, while getting rid of some of the most obnoxious from whatever name they want to call this settlement.

"Justice Peak," Damon muttered, catching the attention of the warrior priest.

"Sorry Commander, what was that?" The priest gave off a quiet confidence that helped Damon reassure himself.

"Justice Peak," Damon told him, "is the name of the mountain overlooking the... was it Gelkis? Clan of Centaur. We defeated this clan and I wish to fortify the mountaintop and surrounding area, to secure it for our people and spread proper nature back into place." Damon resolutely refused to look at the slight shine of the acorn showing, swiftly closing the half open drawer containing it without glancing from the man. "My squire has just given me an idea."

"And just what is that, milord?" The slightly older priestess gave off an image of 'mother' to calm her followers no doubt.

"The Church wants a proper cathedral, I want a garrison and victory monument. No doubt Justice Peak appeals to you?" Damon swiftly looked through several documents before handing over a more detailed map of the area. "See how it overlooks the valley and the mountain pass? Our elvish neighbors are more than likely south of us, so this would be firmly on the path between. I expect no _problems_ to occur with our neighbors should the priesthood choose that location. Am I understood?"

Seeing their nods, Damon swiftly grabbed parchment and ink and got to work on his idea. A team of specialists would need to secure the area first and get the framework built, which would likely include several engineers that would stay for the entire project. They would need guards, medics, supplies, and scouts to keep the land under control so that nothing could catch them unprepared. Getting the initial construction materials there would be a hassle but then they could get it from the land.

 _'Unless,'_ Damon thought as he looked things over, _'I can get the tauren to help deliver things with those kodo. We could get basic defences up and running long before the troops and construction teams get there.'_

With the centaur presence to the north and east the garrison would have to include a good number of their forces, so hopefully Sir Randall sent word back soon. The fact that the centaur would never be able to attack them without warning again, barring weather, was far too tempting. Miners and surveyors would be needed, but again could be requested to serve. They were going to need water barrels though that was for certain, who knows what the water they saw to the east was like. It all came back to who had command and Damon was regretting that he couldn't pass that off to his new tauren allies, but nobody would get behind that at this point and communication was still an issue to most everyone.

The supply officer, Dame Millicent, could probably handle it but that was critical work in itself and they could not afford her. Oghren wasn't an officer. He was almost tempted to send Jonathan with Seamus Greybraid backing him up so the lad could get some experience, but he was a bit young for it. "We're going to need at least six priests," Damon told the priests as he thought about it. "Just for the initial investment into the place, as injuries happen in such environments you know."

"We can agree with this, along with your suggestion. Justice Peak shall be the finest example of Stormwind fortitude this world has ever seen." The priest gave a smile and salute. "If I have to take up arms again to assure this, it will happen Sir Ashfall."

"Thank you, Father." Damon turned to his squire and passed him a note. "I want everyone on this list, regular forces and specialists, to report to me. You are to find Seamus Greybraid and bring him yourself."

"Understood Sir."

* * *

Damon smiled at the forces he had gathered. Oghren had positioned the Stone Golem right in the center of the field in front of Damon and already several of the most interested specialists were gathering around it. Having already seen several warriors, hunters, and mages arrive and inspect their assistance had amused him to a large degree. He noticed several lone figures slink up to the group and integrate themselves and marked them as the rogues.

Several knights arrived along with the priests, and they were followed shortly by Commander Greybraid, Seamus, Jonathan, and the shaman. Chieftain Magrum and his kin were the last to arrive, and they gave Damon deep nods as they passed him. Seeing that an appropriate number had gathered and he had no reason to send for more, Damon cleared his throat and caught their attention.

"Friends and allies, I have gathered you all to discuss an operation that may become to key to our peoples morale," Damon spoke as he pulled out a newly made map, spreading it over a table in front of him. "Justice Peak overlooks the sight of our victory against the centaur and I want it occupied. The strategic importance of the location and the desires of the priesthood for a holy place have come together to provide a perfect location to show our glory to this land."

"Why have ye gathered us all here Commander?" Seamus Greybraid asked the question that probably belonged to his father as the elder dwarf looked over the map with approval. "We the advance party?"

"Exactly," Damon replied as he made a gesture to include everyone. "You all have skills I've seen or heard about from reports. I want this specialist platoon to claim this mountain and establish Stormwind and her dominance of the region."

"Seems easy enough to me, Commander," Oghren called out with a laugh. "We go in, plant our flag, and kick some arse!"

"That leads partially to why you are here Chieftain," Damon said as he turned to Magrum. "I wish to request your kodo to transport the supplies for this force. We'll likely need anyone you have gifted in shaman magic, besides the Elder, as the secondary mission of this force is to help heal the land."

"We will serve, Stormbringer." Magrum turned to his tribesmen and swiftly started to speak.

Damon smiled with relief at the supplies being protected by the tauren and turned to the priests and mages. "You are needed for the obvious reasons, but I also need you to research ways into blessing or warding the land somehow. We will need cartographers for the hunters and rogues," Damon nodded to the quiet figures in the crowd, "to map the region out, with care for centaur holdings in the area."

"'Scuse me Commander, but does this bleedin' thing say Jonathan has command?" Oghren was obviously very surprised at Damon's choice, and so was Damon's squire for that matter.

"M-me, milord?" Jonathan asked with a quiet voice. "I'm just a squire sir."

"You're _my_ squire Jonathan, and you've spent enough time around Commander Greybraid and I to have picked up a thing or two." Damon replied as he handed the boy several papers that he would need. "Obviously Commander Greybraid and I cannot leave the settlement at this time, which is why you'll be acting as my eyes and ears on the frontier. You'll have Seamus and Oghren with you to help you out, so listen to their advice but keep your head and make your own choices."

"But aren't I too young?" The worry was strong in his voice now, but Damon paid it no mind.

"You'll be fine, just keep an eye out for any elves heading overland. See if you can find the path they used to get here if you can. I've got the whole command organized for you already, it just needs you to guide it." Damon gave the boy a wide grin before his next words. "It's basically just paperwork at command unless a battle is nearby anyway. Also work on getting the mages to enchant something to communicate with us back here."

Hearing the boy groaning and complaining about having to explain to his Ma gave Damon and Corven Greybraid a good long laugh. They gave him some advice to dealing with his Ma and sent him on his way soon after. The rest of the platoon quickly left to collect their gear.

* * *

It was shortly after lunch that the specialist platoon left for Justice Peak from Ashfall Landing, which Damon had given into after a short ribbing by Commander Greybraid. It wouldn't replace his home but it would do fine for now, as it kept him very busy running it. It was looking to be a couple days before the main forces were reorganized and a couple projects finished in order for them to send men and supplies to construct the promised bastion, but the priests were already making their rounds and spreading word. Damon had made sure several dwarves and humans among the platoon were already skilled engineers, but he had recieved no less than four more volunteer engineers to join the main effort.

Damon and Greybraid had already fixed the patrol route and schedule before Jonathan left so he would be able to pass message along swiftly enough, even without the hunter birds he had. Mage portals would work for an emergency in case of attack, but the majority of the mail Damon expected would just be reports and maps and those could wait the time it would take to travel. He had also ordered a good portion of the remaining transports converted into fishing vessels in order to sustain his population, as the expected crop yield to such an extant would take even the shaman and those tauren 'druids' a while to accomplish.

Speaking of druids, he had been informed of the discovery after asking about the plant magic that had been witnessed. Apparently there were many druid among the night elves but they slept for long periods of time, and in the distant past they had taught tauren the way. Magrum only had one druid among his tribe, but the increase in growth speed and yield that he could affect was desperately needed to keep everyone fed. The fact the druid could shift into beast form was just a bonus, as it made it that much harder for someone to kill such a valuable person.

Damon wouldn't put anything past anyone after the orcs, but he tried to think fairly in most case. It still didn't hurt to be prepared though, as the centaur attacks had shown. If it wasn't one foul beast it was another to knock on their doors. _'I've been spending too much time listening to priest babble,'_ Damon decided before he turned to head for his tent, intent on getting everything arranged in as little time as possible.

Halfway there he was intercepted by Healer Briar and thanked profusely for sending more assistance, as the other healer had needed the extra break time and returned as patient as ever. He also informed him that the elven woman had woken up briefly but after explaining why she came, through translation, had fallen into a restful sleep. Damon asked about her name but was informed that the healers had been more focused on making sure she didn't suffer a head injury to double check her name, though they would catch it the next time she was awake.

Relieved at the recovery of a valuable ally Damon was also pleased to discover the report of another functional mine having been opened, valuable iron already being found. It gave him some hope into the bounty of the mountains northeast, but also dread at having to clear it of the barbarian inhabitants. He resolved to convert as many of their young into fine citizens as he could, hoping a better life might lead them to make excellent heavy shock troops and mounted shaman. That was a far superior life than what they could lead now, and it was in truth a blessing many would overlook.

The rest of the day was spent getting ahead of his paperwork, talking to the men, and getting a general feel for things. He made sure to inspire his countrymen to the best of his ability, even as he worried as he took longer and longer for Sir Randall to get word back. A mage portal was a simple thing, in his mind at least.

He calmed shortly after the evening meal once word had gotten back to him. The men had exited the portal north of what they believe to be a forest of silverpine. Considering where that tree grew geographically they fortified their position with some felled trees and natural defences and dispatched a rider in the direction they believed Lordaeron City to be. The earliest expected report he could expect from that would be after lunch the next day, if that.

* * *

After spending a morning doing drills with the men so that he didn't lose his touch, Damon took lunch with Corven Greybraid. The aged dwarf and human noble discussed recent events and reports, and what they would be most relieved about if contact was made. It was an interesting experience at least, which Damon always looked forward to.

"I'm tellin' ye lad, if we get any lumber from Lordaeron we can have houses built in half the time. Most of the issues come from usin' that incredibly dense magewood, and that is far too good for a farmer to get. That stuff needs to be in our defenses, not a farmhouse." Greybraid looked thoughtful for a moment before leaning back in his chair. "Did ye know that the magic from the storm seeped into the soil?"

"No," Damon replied with interest, "I haven't heard anything about that."

"We only noticed because of that druid," Greybraid spoke before taking a drink from his mug. "We hadn't even noticed it in the iron and steel, aye even there, because we didn't look. Seems to literally be in the land. Druid and the shaman claim we brought a 'spark' back into the lifeways of the place." Greybraid took another, long drink before staring at Damon. "Bah, we don't need that magic enhancin' stuff, but I already requested a few mages to do runes for us. We'll see what happens there."

Damon nodded at that as he put his own drink down. "We'll see if we can't get some wards to protect us using that metal. I think we can inscribe something or enchant it somehow, but I'm no mage. And glad of it! The training I already did took forever, but I'm glad I went through it."

"I hope so, sending my boy off like that," a voice called out, chilling Damon who had heard it before.

Sure enough, when he turned to look, he saw Jonathan's Ma. The woman herself was only a handful of years older than Damon, indicating she married young. "Hello Madam Marie. No need to worry, Jonathan has capable fighters around him. He'll be in no danger."

The shorter woman stared the younger man down before she sighed. "I saw Sir Randall heading for your tent when I was on a break, and volunteered to get you. I think he had a young woman with him but I didn't ask, as she had her hood up."

Damon blinked while he thought that through but came up with nothing. He shared a glance with Greybraid, who gave a nod and stood up. "C'mon ma'am, let's see if we can't get ye somethin' to eat yourself."

Damon swiftly left as Greybraid wandered off with the woman, to his relief. He was eager to get Randall's report of course, and didn't want to get chewed out by a worried mother again. Seeing Sir Randall before his tent Damon strode forward with a smile, which swiftly changed to a frown at the look on Sir Randall's face as he rushed to Damon. Pausing in step, Damon glanced towards his tent opening only to freeze at the image of a dead woman, or so he thought.

For standing there, heavily pregnant, was his supposedly missing younger sister, Arianne Ashfall. "Hello, Brother."

* * *

 **A/N: I need a name for this elf, so if anyone has a suggestion I'll listen. May or may not keep her around but will probably see her again. Also what is the Alliance without dead people not being dead, am I right? I was super inspired for this chapter and blitzed right through it this morning.**


	7. Chapter 7 (Squire Jonathan)

**A/N: Acherus01 that is definitely a good idea and I'll see about that. This chapter is a different view, hope you all enjoy. It also kinda wrote itself, but I see my path.**

* * *

Thunder and lightning tore through the sky as Jonathan grumbled on the floor of his tent for the third night. As the rain swiftly followed the opening of the storm, Jonathan took his time to think about how he had ended up here. His Pa had worked with a milita during the Gurubashi war and met Commander Greybraid when the dwarf was rising through the ranks. Somehow Pa had managed to impress the dwarf enough that when asked, Commander Greybraid had arranged for Jonathan to squire under Sir Damon Ashfall, who had himself squired under Commander Greybraid. Jonathan had been a squire for several years, having wanted to be a knight from a young age.

Why his knightly mentor assigned him this task eluded the boy, but he figured it wouldn't be as hard as fighting the centaur. He would be sitting in a base after all. Except the base didn't exist yet. Just a series of lifts and guard stations at the moment, which had exhausted the shaman and mages getting it set up, and had only finished that day. The mages had been teleporting up and down the mountainside with shaman, letting them shape the earth and stone into convenient bases for the engineers to construct lifts and winches at. Oghren had been crowing about that particular feat, more than impressed at the four checkpoints it would take to reach the top of the mountain.

The light recon team had practically formed a guild underneath Jonathan's nose, called the Dawn Watchers they followed a half-elven survival hunter named Dawn Singer, and she liked to live up to her name. Which of course would lead to the small show her team got to view and then the name. Her second was a dwarven warrior wearing heavy mail and carrying twin axes, which he cared for like his own daughters. He was called Whiplash, and nothing else.

They had two medics, a priest and shaman, who did the scribing and cartographer respectively. They had a marksman hunter with a snake who teamed up with a rogue and did who knew what out in the field. That team had stayed around Justice Peak for only a few hours before setting off, only checking in rarely via eagle message. Jonathan took copies of their reports and mapping for his records before sending them on.

Team two had taken the designation of Shock and Awe, as a demolition/recovery team. The knight who commanded them was well versed in prisoner rescue and sabotage tactics from his experience against the orcs, and was very impressed with the skills of his team. His second in command was a priest who ventured into enchantment, capable of blessing items and weapons even in the thick of battle. They had another priestly scribe to increase odds of rescuee survival. The two mages were well versed in fire magic, but differed in secondary focuses with one having a heavy arcane leaning and the other a water leaning.

They had a human warrior with two heavy scimitars, a survival hunter, an elemental shaman, a rogue, and another mage. The third mage was heavily focused on defensive applications of arcane magic and attempting communication magic on Jonathan's orders, so the entire team was resting at base for reports from the Dawn Watchers to guide them. At least they had trapmaking to fill their time, up and down the mountain they went all day.

The heavy assault unit didn't have a name yet, but considering Seamus was their leader it was only a matter of time. The dwarf had made a game out of it, and the names were getting rediculous and likely to send Commander Ashfall up a wall. Things like The Ashen Sword, or Blade, and Ash Guard, Peak Wardens, Justice Guard. Jonathan let them continue as it wasn't his problem, or so his teaching indicated. Seamus' second was a knight who had a tight hold on the men at his command.

First was another knight, then the two priest medics, and the shaman healer. They had two warriors, an elemental shaman, a pair of mages, two hunters, and a rogue. This unit acted as guards around the base and familiarized themselves with the terrain should they be called to battle. The majority of his troops would be off clearing out the centaur once Justice Peak was firmly in their grasp, so Jonathan attempted to familiarize himself with them as much as he could. It was slow going.

Jonathan was the leader of the platoon, despite his age, so he had a pair of knights to act as seconds. The command and engineering unit also had a mage, mostly for communication and defense, a priest, and a shaman healer for casters. They also had three warriors, two hunters, and a rogue to fill out defense of the commander. The golem was mostly assigned to the engineers to help with shoring up their defenses and guard the outpost.

He was grateful they had the tauren and kodo to pull along all their supplies, as the heavy equipment would have been impossible otherwise. The fact the Stone Golem could help push the heavy wagons free of the mud was also a blessing. So far the Peak was coming along well, with fortifications at each level of the four lifts. Watchtowers were being planned on the north and south edges of the peak to watch the plains and pass respectively.

Jonathan gave a sigh as the thunder boomed overhead and resolved himself to a restless night. Light only knew if the storm would last until morning but he hoped not as it would make the rest of the day uncomfortable. Despite his expectations, and due to his worry about his mission, Jonathan found himself swiftly asleep while the weather raged outside his tent.

* * *

The sleep had been surprisingly restful for him and so Jonathan found himself atop Justice Peak early the next morning, borrowed spyglass scanning the horizon in the dawning sun. Basking in the light from the sun he came across the sight of the expected kodo shipment being pulled from the mud by a group of soldiers. Slowly tallying up his count Jonathan reached over a hundred and realized it was a full company of reinforcements heading to Justice Peak. He gave a smile as he noticed the group of laborers and craftsmen that assisted the soldiers in freeing the wagon from the mud.

His smile froze as he looked away only to spot movement in the northern foothills. A large band of centaur was heading in the direction of the caravan, though the caravan was closer to the Peak than to the centaur. Jonathan was about to turn and issue orders to the nearby men when he spotted another centaur band heading for the Peak from directly north across the plains.

"Light damn them all," Jonathan cursed as he spun and grabbed the closest person, a large warrior. "Rally the men, we've got centaur coming to attack the Peak while another group is heading for the caravan."

After the warrior sprinted off to gather the men Jonathan rushed to his tent to gather his gear. Cursing the centaur for both attacks he exited his tent as quickly as possible only to see most of Shock and Awe gathered before him. He groaned as he realized several of them were off around the mountain placing traps, and he couldn't delay to gather them.

"All right men, I need a bird heading for that caravan to warn them. Your team is to assist the caravan and get those supplies and men to use as safely as possible. Command and Heavy will hold the Peak at the outer defenses if we can, but don't be surprised to find us having retreated up." Jonathan took a moment to gather his breath. "Light bless us all, good luck. Go!"

Jonathan thanked the experienced among his men for entrenching a wall of spiked logs around the stone and mortar wall. Even with the walls at the height of a man a charging centaur could jump it without the spikes and they didn't need that happening to them. He grabbed a large coil of rope after nearly tripping on in and proceeded to drag it along with him while he smiled.

"Alright," Jonathan told the rest of his men as they gathered at the lift, "I want the mages safely above us on the lift platform so they can rain death upon the centaur. I need some volunteers to drive stakes into the ground and tie rope off to them, we'll trip those beasts as they charge us." Once several people had collected the rope and run off more stakes and more rope, he turned to the remaining combat unit. "Healers and hunters, up with the mages. Give us one shaman for the ground and we can work with that. The rest of you get into defensive positions and prepare yourselves, they aren't that far out."

The gap in the wall that was big enough for the kodo wagon soon found itself filled with steadfast warriors. Jonathan found himself not too far from the front, beside a hunter carrying a wicked axe and another petting a large bear. He wondered why the second hunter was down with them and realized between his blunderbuss and need to control the bear he was forced to fight on the ground. He gave a nod to the dwarf with the bear as he turned his attention to the rest of the men when the warhorns started to sound.

The first few minutes were a mad scramble to maintain the defenses in the front, the shield users taking a battering before the sent the first wave packing with fire, ice, and lightning raining from above along with several volleys of arrows. As he slowed his breathing and pulled his sword from a corpse, Jonathan saw another warrior limping off towards the lift to the healers, his arm hanging to his side. He wasn't given any longer of a break as the next wave of centaur crashed into the bulwark of Justice Peak.

Jonathan was busy fending off a crazed centaur when Seamus entered the battle, but he certainly saw the effect close at hand. Several smoldering and broken bodies remained behind the dwarf and nearby the Stone Golem was crushing centaur with heavy fists and stomping them with stone boots. The centaur limped away from that engagement while several of the defenders had to fall back, dragging a few comrades away from the front.

The spellcasters managed to outright abort another two charges, the spellfire likely killing as many enemies as the defenders on the ground had. Jonathan saw another charge coming, lead by a shaman of their own with lightning arcing from his hands. Feeling a sense of dread he dropped to the floor and avoided the piercing blast of magic that knocked the unfortunate warrior behind Jonathan off his feet in a rain of blood. The healer on the ground was on him in an instant to perform aid as a retaliatory arrow storm killed the centaur shaman.

Shoving himself to his feet Jonathan caught a center by surprise as it charged itself onto his blade. Letting go of the now wedged hilt he grabbed the axe from the dying hand of the centaur and lifted a fallen shield off the ground. He blocked an arrow with the shield as he made sure to keep his position relative to the men, knowing he had no chance if he let himself be surrounded. Already he noticed several centaur singling him out as a weak target so he grit his teeth and went to work once more.

The first three centaur to attempt to attack him met a swirling storm of death by the name of Seamus, fire and lightning arcing from his weapons into his enemies. The dwarf gave a cheeky grin to Jonathan among the carnage before leaping at another enemy attempting to get past the shieldwall. Giving the dwarf a grim look in return Jonathan found himself standing next to the more experience warriors and knights of the shieldwall and quickly fell into the rhythm.

Jonathan blinked back into proper awareness when he noticed a tauren stood over the nearest centaur corpse and, after looking around while behind his shield, realized the fight had finally ended. Sometime during the fighting he had lost himself in block-swing-parry-repeat whilst holding the shieldwall. He gave a grunt followed by a long groan as he registered all the aches and pains he had collected during the fighting.

"The rush finally leave you?" An older knight stood next to Jonathan, sporting a small grin as he watched the younger warrior. "Tends to happen the first time you're properly in a shieldwall. The focus is too strong. You're going to sleep like the dead, pardon me saying it."

He gave a low groan in reply as he limped his way towards the lift. Spotting Oghren doing maitenance to the golem he waved him over and passed command to Seamus, far too tired to deal with anything else until he rested. He'd definitely lost track of time, as there was a small lunch waiting for him when he returned to his tent. He was simply grateful that they had thought of it for him, so after washing off he ate the food as swiftly as he could before slowly reading reports as he tried to ignore the aches.

* * *

 _'There are only so many things someone my age can handle,'_ Jonathan thought as he looked over the newest reports. He had woken just before evening meal and decided to make up for lost time. The recommendations to turn the canyon the Gelkis centaur had previously commanded into a quarry was a good one, but a large majority of the stone would have to be used to fortify the thing before they got any true use out of it. Of far greater concern were the reports of the ruins to the east, as the Dawn Watchers had already had to fight three patrols.

Demons infested the ruins in great numbers and the presence of so many foul beings was corrupting the land and water around them. Jonathan knew he didn't have the troops to handle a demon infestation, he barely knew anything about them. The rough drawings he was provided at least gave him something to work with so he tracked down the nearest priest and mage and requested an emergency portal and research materials. The mage had departed for Ashfall Landing almost instantly, fear evident on her face, while the priest had frozen briefly before dragging Jonathan to a small tent.

"These texts do _not_ leave your possession, understood?" The stern gaze of the middle aged priest cut off any questions Jonathan could make as he hid the books away. "I will be going with any force to confront those monsters."

It was said, according to the books, that demons had always existed to combat the Church. Apparently several sources indicated an invasion had occured as well it the distant past, so these were likely remnants. It also gave descriptions for several of the creatures and Jonathan paled as he recognized them. He would never admit to being relieved that his men would fight the creatures instead of himself, but he had no desire to face a Satyr in battle. The specialists and priests would find that work stressful and dangerous most likely. The real menace was there were an unknown number of demons, but upwards of one hundred.

This wasn't so bad as the majority were reported to be imps but even more of those could end up being summoned and swarming the combatants. They'd need some serious spellpower to prevent that and while Shock and Awe had some it just wasn't enough to combat the numbers. Alternatively they could have the mages actively focused on keeping the demons suppressed while the bulk of the forces dealt with it. Yes that could potentially work but if any spellcaster of strength was among the demons they would be in danger all the same.

Jonathan had no chance of commanding the company that had reinforced Justice Peak, they were there to stay and already helping the construction efforts. He hoped that Commander Ashfall would send assistance, but if not Jonathan would have to start ordering strikes upon the demons. Wait, he should order a few anyway, as any reinforcements would take time to organize properly.

"Someone get me Seamus Greybraid and Master Sergeant Oghren!" Jonathan let his voice carry from his tent before he dragged himself up in order to get tea. This would likely take a while.

The two dwarves joined him minutes later and sat patiently while he relayed the situation. The looks of disgust on their faces reassured him that the demons needed to be dealt with as quickly as possible. Now he sat calmly drinking his tea as the dwarves loomed over a rough map of the area and the ruins. He had managed to get them to agree to lead a series of strikes upon the demons, in order to gauge their number and positions, but it was a deadly task.

"We've not got the numbers to take both passes," Seamus commented as he eyed the covered table. "If they have more beasties than expected the men would be overrun. Damn, even what we expect would overrun that attempt."

"Standard battle plans flew out the window awhile ago," Oghren laughed as he pointed to the northern section of the ruins. "We should take that pass and then carve our way through the city. We won't have the men to hold the pass anyway, so we just take a tower."

"You'd have to kill an awful lot of demons to secure the area. It seems that a large tower near the pass is in mostly good condition, but it is also likely to be filled with demons." Jonathan gave the more experienced fighters a grin. "If you just take that tower the first night you can proceed to rampage through the city the next. I'm sorry that we can't send the golem in but it's too valuable to lose due to the slow speed."

"They do fine on campaign because of the march speed, and now the kodo can transport them, but I see yer point," Seamus agreed. "We can't risk the kodo in there so we're goin' by foot."

"I'll get as many men as I can from Commander Ashfall, but if not Command will proceed to the pass and fortify it ourselves. Do not give up your position to join us, you'll likely be more useful there." Jonathan could only imagine how one force in a tight location could be a demonic playground. No need to risk that. "Good luck and the Light be with you."

* * *

The response from Commander Ashfall reached him by morning. "Captain Jonathan, continue operations in the region. Reinforcements are coming. Eliminate the demons with extreme prejudice. A situation has developed and I am unable to join. Commander Greybraid has some new volunteers, he'll inform you upon meeting. Commander Damon Ashfall." Jonathan read through the letter brought by gryphon and gave a sigh of relief. With any luck they'd reach him before evening and they could march in the morning. "Are you assigned to the Peak?" The gryphon rider in question nodded and stood at attention. "I need you in the air over the ruins, we've got men attempting to take the area, and they could use the air support."

"Understood Sir." With the man quickly departing, seeing as they already had a gryphon patrol in the air, Jonathan turned to his work.

He had already ordered the Dawn Watchers to gather as much intelligence on the area as they could, but they wouldn't be able to risk any heavy fighting. The Heavy Assault team would support Shock and Awe while clearing territory so they would be fine. If the Commander sent replacements he could return the Dawn Watchers to normal operations but at the moment he needed them harrassing the demons just as much as the others.

Jonathan had also taken a fair number of the men assigned to Justice Peak and ordered them to patrol the borders with deadly intent. Centaur or demon, nothing was to interfere in the construction. Those men had already ridden out, but they were well trained to keep an eye to the sky in case of signals from gryphons. The gryphon riders carried colored smoke bombs they could release into the skies that would be seen for quite a distance so that helped greatly.

One of the mages had terrified Jonathan by requesting imp blood for an experiment, but the man was truly just attemtping to create more communication magic. He needed the blood of an imp to finish a stage of the research and so was granted reluctant leave to join the forces already in the field. Luckily the recovery time of the gryphon delayed the riders departure long enough to give the mage a lift. He just hoped that didn't come back to haunt him.

Several paper birds would fly through the camp each day before unfolding to deliver their message, but while it was interesting it would not make reporting back to Commander Ashfall any easier. Jonathan had still yet to discover if it was a mage who did that, a priest, or just a lucky scribe. Likely some combination of the three. He hoped to keep them occupied and so kept them out of the way with research. He spent the morning organizing his own forces to take the pass and making sure Justice Peak would run smoothly in his absence.

Commander Greybraid sent word shortly after midday that the Ancients would be keeping the centaur occupied should they attempt to move into the area, and that his forces would bypass the Peak in favor of the southern pass. Greybraid himself would lead the reinforcements before joining his troops via gryphon. Seeing as Commander Ashfall had named him Captain Jonathan, it was likely another platoon sized force. That would go well as he was unlikely to have been able to command more than a company in any aspect, the paperwork alone would overwhelm him.

Several hours later a report arrived from the Dawn Watchers that indicated centaur we even further east past the demons, so that would need an eye kept on it. Commander Greybraid would likely be able to handle it if he had the troops. It was coming down to a matter of numbers and that was never Jonathan's strongest point.

When Commander Greybraid finally arrived shortly before evening meal, he introduced Jonathan to his new men. Alpha, Beta, and Omega Squad were designed specifically for the role of demon elimination it seemed. Omega Squad simply asked where they were needed and then departed before the meal, intent on finding the Dawn Watchers and relieving them of their hazardous duty. Alpha and Beta squad would be his reinforcements to take the northern half of the city, as Commander Greybraid was leading the south.

"I've got three hundred fine soldiers," Greybraid commented happily when warned about the centaur. "We'll destroy those savages if they dare to interfere."

"Won't that leave the Landing rather weak on defenders?" Jonathan was rather worried about that point, and most importantly about his Ma.

"We made contact," Commander Greybraid grinned. "These boys are all volunteers from back home. Took all yesterday to get them through the portal."

Jonathan could hardly believe it, the mages had actually made it work? "Truly? What about the Prince?"

"Oh aye, Prince Varian is safely in Lordaeron. Old Lothar himself escorted him after all. We won't get many more men, but we've got some supplies coming to us." The dwarf gave the boy another grin. "That's not all that happened, but you'll have to wait. We've got demons to kill.


	8. Chapter 8

"Hello, Brother"

The first thing out of Damon's mouth was a surprised, "What?" Followed swiftly by a pointed look at her pregnant form. "How?!"

Sir Randall sighed from beside Damon, having been too slow to warn the young knight. "Perhaps... inside?"

Mindful of the eyes of the camp, Damon swiftly made his way into the tent, eyes locked onto the form of the sister he thought dead. "What happened?" He asked as calmly as he could once they had seated.

Arianne Ashfall looked at her brother sadly, "When the orcs arrived, we fought fiercely. We fought bravely. We lost. I saw Father and Mother fall myself." The young woman was obviously hurt by the experiences. "When I was captured, I did the one thing I could to protect myself from the orcs. I found a stronger one."

"So he... freed you?" The pregnancy was an obvious indication of what happened, and Damon was so relieved to have her back that he didn't mind. "How did you get to Lordaeron?"

"Gor'nak Greyhowl is a fine example of a Dragonmaw orc apparently. He slew a dragon, turned the claws and fangs into blades, and stabbed the first orc to contest his claim to me in the throat." Arianne seemed slightly amused by this at least. "He didn't much care for the rest of the Horde, seeing as their warlocks had slain his clansmen. It was a simple matter to get him to agree to leave. Unfortunately his treatment in Lordaeron is not so simple."

"What do you mean?" Damned orc or not he had rescued Damon's sister and for that Damon would carve a river of blood. "Are they holding him?"

"Technically yes, Commander," Sir Randall spoke up. "His people did destroy our kingdom, so they've been understandably... reluctant to let him free. Despite his injuries obtained defending a noble of the kingdom."

"And because of the Half-Orc," Damon replied as he looked at his worried sister.

"They told me they wouldn't release him unless I agreed to give up my child. They would kill it, or worse, turn it into another assassin." Arianne was right to be worried as those things were more than likely. Even more so when one though about King Llane and his demise.

"What is the situation of our people Sir Randall? What news do you have?"

"Prince Varian has safely made it to Lordaeron City under the protection of Lord Lothar and King Terenas Menethil," Sir Randall reported as he pulled several documents from a pack at his side. "They've granted us authority of the area our portal ended up, with permission to fortify a small outpost and refugee camp. They had apparently been referring to us as the 'Lost Legion' amongst themselves. We can expect _some_ supplies," and here the knight grimaced, "but most of what is free is going directly to the rest of our people."

Damon gave a relieved smile at the news before he asked something vital. "Your opinion on my new... brother?"

"Fierce. Powerful. Dangerous." Sir Randall reported instantly, ignoring the glare sent by Arianne. "He took a mounted knights charge, and while wounded by a spear to the shoulder, managed to knock out three men-at-arms to protect your sister. That fight would have been a lot more bloody if she hadn't been there holding him back, I am more than certain of that."

"Fine," Damon groaned as he made his decision. "Get your mage, bring me that orc. If anyone gives you problems to refer them to me, I'll handle any complaints."

"Really Commander? You want _Michael_ to do it?" The worry in the voice of the knight seemed to set off Arianne so Damon quickly intervened.

"Who else would be crazy enough to do it _and_ _succeed_? Nobody touches my family. Do it." With orders recieved the knight swiftly left the Ashfall siblings alone. "Did anyone else survive?" Damon asked quietly with hope and fear.

"I'm sorry Damon, I was the last," Arianne replied. "Gor'nak asked around on my behalf but found nothing."

Damon closed his eyes against the emotional pain the news brought him. "At least I still have you, that is far more than I believed. Thank the Light for small mercies I guess. I'll get your husband back for you, it's the least I can do."

"It would be 'mate' by orc standards." His sister gave a small smile as she looked down at her stomach. "That just seems a little too rough for me though."

Damon laughed as he moved to give her a hug. "Whatever they call it, I owe him a debt I intend to repay. I'm glad to have you back Arianne."

"Me too brother, me too."

* * *

News spread quickly throughout Ashfall Landing of both the Prince and Damon's sister, which meant of course that several loud citizens visited but Damon survived it through sheer patience. It helped that his sister was relieved by his help, and amused by his misfortune to be stuck commanding a town of refugees. Damon spent most of his free time beside her, when he wasn't communicating with Jonathan via messenger birds or otherwise forced to lead his men around.

It was late in the evening when Greybraid requested a meeting with Damon, and really it was only a short note. 'Got news, evening.' This naturally peaked Damon's interest as it didn't fit Greybraid's personality. The dwarf had spent the entire afternoon down in the lower town and had rarely poked his head out of the mine and barracks.

"Good evening Damon," Corven Greybraid greeted with a smile as he stepped inside the tent. "You want the bad news, the good news, or the great news?"

"Bad news please," Damon replied with amusement.

Greybraid stood straight to stare at Damon. "We've got refugees askin' for transport through the portal. From Lordaeron. A lot of 'em too."

Damon sullenly looked at the supply reports he had recieved earlier. "Prioritize those willing to fight and useful tradeskills. The housing construction and allotment is determined by elderly, pregnant, or children first." Damon gave a weak smile at Greybraid, "I think we could pass the word to buy as much food as they can, hopefully that will help things."

The smile was back on Greybraid's face as if it had never left. "Good news is we have a solution for that. The best news is how." With the look on the dwarves face it was likely he would continue that game until Damon gave in.

"And how can we aquire these resources?" That smile was becoming slightly worrisome as the dwarf practically vibrated with excitement.

"We struck gold lad!" The dwarf cheered. "Not just iron in these hills, turns out. Not too much but it is there and we found it." Greybraid had an eager look on his face as he waited for Damon's reaction.

"So we have gold," Damon deadpanned in return. "Great, we shall need heavy guards for transporting it to Lordaeron City and exchanging it. Organize that, would you? And see if you can get some more lumber and stone to Jonathan."

Greybraid deflated before turning to the entrance, "You take the fun out of everythin' lad."

"Thank you," Damon smiled, "it means I'm doing my job."

After that Damon spent the next few days overseeing a slow but steady stream of people coming from Lordaeron. Refugees, the adventurous, jobless craftsmen, all were needed. He even went the extra length to judge them by having the centaur female, Elder Rusthorn, and a translator stand nearby and help guide them out of the barracks. The fact that the centaur was under heavy guard for her own safety rather than the peoples escaped their notice entirely. Already several more irksome individuals had been turned back, communication portals allowing for easy return without blocking things.

"You have a place here," Damon had remarked to the first large group of people filling the basement. "Whether that is on the battlefield, at a forge, oven, or field. With sword or pickaxe. You all have a place."

The elven ship had finally shown up, though they spent several hours talking with the injured patient in the medical tent before they actually talked to Damon. He was still annoyed by the lack of fluent communication but the translating tauren proved to be the most patient of them all, watching everyone with amusement and diffusing arguments.

Finally an agreement was reached trading iron and gold for food and lumber and he had even requested a map of the surrounding landscape in an attempt not to infringe on their territory. The elves were reluctant but willing to take it up with their leaders, seeing as how their comrade was still too risky to transport. He had also found out her name, Mihris, so he now had something to call her, at least in his head.

Commander Greybraid had been right about the supply of gold as well. The small but near constant influx of gold into the treasury helped their buying power immensely. Even the basics they had been missing were being treated as a blessing. Everyone being fed properly was an important thing to consider after all. It seemed like things were finally going their way, and then came a mage.

* * *

"Demons?" Damon asked for clarification. "They actually saw demons?"

"I believe so Commander, else Squire Jonathan would not have reacted so," the mage explained in worry. "If there truly is a demonic presence it needs to be destroyed as swiftly as possible. We need more men, Commander Ashfall."

"Get me Commander Greybraid," Damon called out to the youth he hired to run messages. "Tell the mage Evelyn to join us as well!"

Scrambling to gather the materials, he read through every recent career listing looking for any with military experience to help. Jonathan was likely already planning like he had been trained, fortify a position and secure the surroundings. He was going to need more troops to do that with even if Damon planned to send Commander Greybeard to do the heavy fighting. The old dwarf would pound Damon into the ground if he forced him to miss out on such a fight.

Unfortunately when he aired his views to Commander Greybraid once he had reached Damon, the dwarf and the mage woman had laughed and agreed that Damon was too necessary to be allowed to leave at this point in time. There was also the need to watch over his sister even though he knew full well a great many of the knights would do so glady. Stormwind raised the best after all.

And so Damon once again found himself overwatching the portal though it was warriors and adventurers that streamed through now. He had asked the mages to research warding against demons and could only hope they uncovered something, as the priests were likely far too busy to be bothered with it. The priests had recently been asked to coordinate with the mages here and with the rest of their people in an attempt to establish position, direction, and distance back to their homeland. It was slow going.

He kept a trained eye on the soldiers going past and picked out several more experienced veterans simply by the way they moved. Those would be the core of Jonathan's forces, men aware of the dangers and still going forward. The lethal grace was evident among the hunters as well, the most evident being a brightly clothed male High Elf. The elf was able to blend perfectly well in his forests with those colors as the trees had magic but here in the drab wastelands he was going to stand out.

The organization of those that would serve under Jonathan and those under Greybraid went swiftly at least. He was even kind enough not to poach too many of the veterans from under the dwarf. A full battalion would accompany the dwarven commander while another platoon would bring Jonathan up to company strength.

Now that he thought about it, with all the resources they've acquired he could order more golems from Branka. Even a few Storm Golems. That would have to be brought up later. _'A few dozen more golems behind me on a battlefield would be nice,'_ he thought with a grin. They would need to get more detailed information on the centaur to the north. Damon had a sense of forboding that he was not accustomed to. He'd better overlook the defenses once more.

* * *

It was midway through the morning and Damon was dealing with yet another mound of paperwork when the horns signaled an enemy attack. He belted his sword to his hip and sprinted from his tent as he heard the specific signal. _'Who could possibly be attacking from the sea? Damnit it all to hell,'_ Damon thought as he reached the path heading to the beach. He could see a swarm of murlocs and things that resembled snakes attacking both landings and could only go to assist one.

"You there," Damon called out to a passing warrior who snapped to attention, "I'm heading to assist the southern forces, gather some men and reinforce the western beach!"

"Yes Commander!" The man altered his direction and sprinted away.

Damon caught sight of Arianne, Cook, and several men gathering the women and children in the upper camp to the stone walls that surrounded the fires and gave them a nod as he continued on. Even if these attackers managed to cause damage to the lower levels they'd never get past the gatehouses defending the main camp and he was relieved that his sister spent most of her time near him. It was a small blessing but one less worry to distract him during the fighting to come.

It took him for longer to actually make it to his warriors than he would like, but his first action was to rally several of the men scattered by the fighting and surge onwards to the beach. The first three murlocs he faced, foul beasts that seemed to menace coasts the world over, fell to his blade swiftly as he attempted to take in the situation. Up and down the coast the creatures swarmed from the waves in the dozens as the defenders fought to establish a line.

Directing the men he gathered to spread out he ordered an advance towards the heaviest section of the fighting, where he could see the hulking form of the Storm Golem returning several blasts of lightning towards what could only be the snake spellcasters. Sending a murloc flying with a swing of his shield Damon found himself confronting one of the snakes himself. The creature was about man size and carried a trident and while it seemed competent in the use of such a weapon it found itself unable to defend from a hail of arrows striking it. Damon pushed any thoughts of mercy aside as he quickly strode forward and finished it off before another charged with a group of murlocs.

" _Die, surface-dweller,_ " the thing hissed as it stabbed forward.

Damon frowned as he blocked the strike with his shield, stepping forward in an attempt to get his sword in range. Unfortunately the murlocs seemed to be trained as they surged forward as one and went for Damon's legs. "Blasted things," Damon spat as he back up and bisected one. "Focus the snakes! The snakes are leading them!"

" _Snakes?!_ " Several lightning fast strikes from the trident forced Damon back once more. " _The Naga are not snakes!_ "

"Could've fooled me," Damon replied as he brought the edge of his shield down upon the neck of a murloc, causing it to collapse lifelessly. "I was needing a new coinpurse, I think you'll do."

Damon parried another stab from the beast and rushed forward, trusting his men to watch his back. With an impressive display of dexterity the 'Naga' spun the trident and deflected several attacks away from it before with a quick thrust it hooked the weapon under Damon's foot and pulled him to the ground. Biting back a curse Damon rolled to avoid getting speared through the throat, knocking several of the small murlocs to the ground before he sprang back to his feet.

" _I will feed you to the sharks surfacer,_ " Damon's opponent spit as it attempted to strike him.

Damon shielded against several more attempts to skewer him before he spun to the side to avoid the trident, bringing his sword up and taking the arms of his opponent at the elbows. "Shut up fish-bait," Damon said as he drove his sword through the naga before kicking it away and glancing around. His disregard cost him as the dying creature managed one last strike, serpentine tail lashing out and sending Damon sprawling once more.

Letting one of his men assist him to his feet Damon caught his breath back as even through plate he knew that last attack would leave a bruise. "Right," he told the man who helped him up, "kill them _extra_ dead. I'm definitely going to feel that one later." Ignoring the soldier chuckling, Damon watched as his men finally managed a proper defensive line.

The few stone golems they had were spread out across the line with the Storm Golem holding the center of the beach, practically glowing from all the lightning magic it had absorbed, before it unleashed a veritable beam of lightning from its spear and fried a large group of naga that were charging it. The low whistles from the soldiers around him at the sight made Damon chuckle even as he cut a murloc down as it leapt at him. A solid kick crushed the chest of another before a strange horn sounded and the attackers practically disappeared back into the waves.

"Well shit," Damon sighed as he looked around at the soldiers pulling the surviving defenders from the battlefield and cautiously gathering their dead. The docks were mangled and would need replaced, but they had held their attackers off from getting to the refugees. "I'm going to check on the other landing, someone get me a status report as swiftly as possible. And why those things disappeared so quickly."

* * *

 _ **AN: Sorry this took so long considering the short length, but I was distracted for a solid week by that Dota 2 Auto Chess and then my grandmother experienced a rapid decline before she passed a few days ago. I definitely didn't do the reunion of Damon and his sister justice because of this, but considering that portion was written just beforehand and that crazy old lady was definitely the source of the fantasy genre love that spans the generations I managed to at least finish this chapter. Hope you all enjoy - Seer.**_


	9. Chapter 9 (Jonathan II)

Jonathan paced in his tent at the news the gryphon rider brought him. Commander Greybraid was facing heavy resistance from the demons. The southern half of the demon territory was apparently infested to disturbing degrees with the foul creatures, and it already looked like they'd take a while to secure their position. Jonathan's own fortifications were almost in place and would hopefully repel any demonic assault that was attempted. He was definitely grateful to have men of such experience and skill assisting in the operation.

The plan was for Jonathan to prevent any demonic assault on Justice Peak by holding the mountain pass while Commander Greybraid eliminated the threat in the southern ruins and Seamus caused havoc among the northern demons. Omega Squad was deep in demon territory hunting patrols and lone demons, and keeping an eye out for any centaur movement towards either position. So far things were going well but it was only a matter of time before the demons took notice of Jonathan and his men, especially considering Seamus was purging the area with enthusiasm.

The dwarven shaman took anything that threatened the natural forces of the world as a personal attack and responded in kind with vicious glee and overwhelming force. Jonathan couldn't fault him for that, as his only personal experience with demons were the ones summoned by the Horde and even those terrified him. The rest of the men were also eager to destroy the monsters so it was likely Seamus was having a grand time hunting demons.

"I'm too young for this," Jonathan muttered to himself as he stared out the tent flap at the low stone walls being built upon. Half a dozen strong men were placing heavy stones and layering it with a binding solution as several of their fellows kept careful watch for any demonic scouts. "Milord would storm through this land without fear. Why can't I?"

He had only just reached thirteen, and while big for his age do to the training from Commander Ashfall, he did not feel ready to face demons. He knew he wasn't ready but his lord had entrusted him with such a duty and he would fulfill it. His Ma had only made the doubts worse when he told her he was going to Justice Peak but she had a right to be worried. After all, who really wants their child so far from them and in danger?

Letting the flap fall he searched for his parchment and ink in order to give Seamus and Oghren a few ideas. The dwarves were currently based in a tower just south of their position and would need to know not to expect more reinforcements. The spellcasters of Shock and Awe were apparently burning the land area by area in an attempt to cleanse it and the delay was limiting their strike range. Jonathan was all for cleansing the land but priorities had to be made, enemies first, land second.

* * *

As he was finishing the letter the light from outside suddenly brightened and he looked up to find one of the guards looking worried. "Demons have been sighted Captain. Dozens of the things heading this way."

Jonathan abandoned the letter as he grabbed his weapon and joined the guardsman in returning to the defensive works. Already the camp was being roused quietly, men streaming from tents and projects to form lines behind the bulwark. Jonathan's first view of the demons was a cloven-hooved monster with a spade tail and tall horns surrounded by six large and muscled demons carrying heavy weapons. _'Felguards,'_ Jonathan identified from the tomes he had read. A large force of Imps danced behind their leader, along with several other kinds of demons.

"Behold mortals, your doom has come! I am Alkris of the Satyr, sent to bring you to your eternal damnation." The satyr gestured grandly with a vicious smile. "This world is ours and you shall be _exterminated_."

"Begone foul demon!" A priest spat from the right of Jonathan. "Your kind is not welcome on our world, the Light shall cleanse all!"

The satyr snarled as he let forth a bolt of fel magic at the priest, causing the man to scream as he became engulfed in flames despite attempts to block the magic. "Pitiful," Alkris sneered as the defenders helplessly watched the man die. "Kill them all."

"Send the flare!" Jonathan ordered as a force of voidguards and felhounds surged forward, followed by the rest of the demons. "Shields forward!"

"Light preserve us," a soldier muttered nearby.

As the signal flare rose into the sky to alert Seamus the defenders braced to face the onslaught. Several small fireballs from the imps raced past the voidguards only to fizzle out against holy shields provided by priests. Just before the the first of the demons made contact with the shieldwall the felguard rushed from their defensive stance around the satyr, radiating bloodlust that could be felt a dozen yards away. Several men stumbled from the unexpected force of the voidguards but managed to keep their footing despite the felhounds trying to lunge past them to the casters.

"Kill those hounds," Jonathan ordered, knowing he would need every healer they had. "Don't let them through! For Stormwind!"

"Stormwind!" Echoed the warriors around him as the felguards and imps reached the battle.

Two of the defending warriors were cut down by the felguard and imps raced through the gap, fire flung in all directions as they attempted to set everything alight. Jonathan, standing several feet behind a hunter in order to view the battle properly, cut down two as they tried to get into the camp to cause havoc. The fallen were dragged to the healers as their allies rushed to fill the gap despite the presence of the towering demon warriors.

The half-finished wall at least held back the majority of the demons, which were mostly imps, from joining in immediately. Unfortunately the unfinished portion still left several yards of space for the outnumbered defenders to hold and the imps proved able to climb and jump onto the short walls, often by climbing upon their fellows. Jonathan cursed when he realized the demons numbered nearly a hundred and half of his forces weren't at the camp at all.

The imps atop the wall, despite flinging fire every way they could, were quickly struck down by the archers and mages. Unfortunately they were replaced almost as swiftly as they were killed. One of the felguard finally died after a pair of rogues managed to flank it, but it had killed a warrior and struck down one of the rogues before succumbing to its injuries. Jonathan grit his teeth at that as the rogue pulled his friend from the fight.

"Captain," Jonathan's second, Lieutenant Hawkins, spoke up from beside him, "I'm going in."

"Light be with you," Jonathan responded as the knight reinforced the faltering line.

A pair of voidguards died, dispersing into the void and leaving only their bracers, before Jonathan felt a shiver go down his spine as the satyr cackled madly from behind his forces. "I wonder how you mortals will fair against this!" A bolt of green magic shot into the sky, dark clouds appearing on an otherwise fair day. Twin flaming green rocks started to fall towards the camp as Jonathan felt fear course through him.

"Infernals!" Jonathan shouted as several of the more experienced men looked up and cursed loudly. "Move!"

Despite his attempt to warn them, and their efforts to evacuate the obvious landing zone, a few men were crushed outright as the demonic siege engines landed in the center of the battle. Everything seemed to pause as defender and demon alike watched the hulking stone forms of the infernals stand among them. Several spells splashed off the infernals as the men recovered their wits but the searing heat coming off them was enough to make even the bravest man pause.

The men were giving as good as they got against the rest of the demons but the infernals were shrugging off everything they tried. Jonathan was preparing himself to order a full retreat when a familiar horn blowing drowned out the cackles of the satyr, and an earth elemental smashed its way through a pack of imps to engage the infernals. Through the melee Jonathan caught glimpses of Seamus attempting to strike Alkris down, though the satyr danced back from the attacks and responded with his foul magics.

Jonathan's inattention nearly cost him as a felguard broke through the defenders and charged at him. Narrowly ducking the greatsword aimed for his head he snarled as his sword glanced off the metal gauntlet covering his attackers arm. Knowing he had no chance of overpowering the creature he attempted to gain distance but the demon kept advancing toward him. The jarring force behind the felguard nearly caused his arms to go numb as he made the mistake of blocking a strike, sliding back several feet and nearly losing his footing.

"Captain!" Lieutenant Hawkins came to his aid by blocking another attack with his shield. "Let me handle this, Sir."

"Keep his attention," Jonathan replied as he glanced around to make sure nothing else would get to him. "I'll try to get it from behind."

"Yes Captain." The knight likely would have argued with that decision but he was too busy defending himself from the felguard to speak more.

Jonathan sadly had to leap away from a wild swing when he attempted to flank the demon, Hawkins took the chance and struck it in the leg. The felguard returned its attention back to the one who wounded it, blows hammering down upon the mans shield even as Jonathan rushed to attack. Jonathan felt despair as he saw Hawkins' shield get battered aside and a heavy blow nearly crushed the mans breastplate. Gritting his teeth, Jonathan drove his sword through the felguards neck and shoved it aside as he rushed to Hawkins.

"Lieutenant!" Jonathan called as he reached down for the man, who weakly reached up and allowed himself to be pulled to his feet.

"I'm ok Captain," Hawkins said with a wince even as blood found its way through the crushed plate. "Nothing the healers can't fix."

"Healer, right." Jonathan turned to shout for a healer only to pause at the sight of the battlefield.

Blood, from demon and defender alike, covered the relatively small area that was fought upon. A dozen men were going around finishing fallen demons or carrying their comrades from the field, avoiding the smoldering remains of what could only be the infernals. The healers were standing just out of the blood soaked area, tending to the worst injuries as swiftly as they could.

Jonathan gave a sigh as he realized the battle was over. "C'mon Lieutenant." Carefully supporting the man they made their way to a priest who finished patching a hunter and took Hawkins from Jonathan.

"There ye are lad," Seamus Greybraid spoke up from behind Jonathan. "Blasted satyr got away."

"At least we're alive." Jonathan winced as a body was solemnly carried past, valiantly keeping his stomach calm. "Most of us."

* * *

"I guess I won't be needing this," Jonathan mentioned as he held up the letter in his tent. "I'll give it to you anyway so that things are clear, but the meaning is the same. Kill every demon you can find, we can worry about cleansing the land after."

Seamus quickly read through his orders before tucking the letter away. "Aye, I'll take care of it. Ye gonna send word to the Commander?"

"Of course." Looking over the list of casualties Jonathan gave a shaky smile of relief that only eight had fallen in the battle, despite the heavy number of wounded. "Commander Greybraid is facing even more demons to the south, Light preserve him."

"That old dwarf won't let any stinkin' demon get the best o' him, I tell you that." Seamus gave a weak laugh in an attempt to lighten the mood but it hardly worked. Even a blind man could tell his was worried about his father, despite his brave face at the news.

"How did your elemental defeat the infernals? They are of roughly the same size and strength aren't they?"

"Ye missed the other elementals being summoned?" Seamus grinned at him momentarily. "Nothin' a few earth and fire spirits can't deal with, plenty o' summoners around."

"Excuse me Captain, but may I have a word?" The muscled priest that had loaned Jonathan the tomes stood lifting the tent flap. "It is regarding Commander Ashfall's orders and the disposal of the demon bodies."

Jonathan was confused but motioned for the priest to join him as Seamus left to carry out his orders. "What can I do for you, Father?"

"Commander Ashfall has tasked the priesthood and the mages to come up with defenses against the demons," the priest explained. "I came to request the use of the fallen demons in our experiments. We believe that having actual bodies to test against would improve our chances."

Thinking it over for a moment, Jonathan gave a nod. "Please keep the bodies and notes under watch, we don't need anyone attempting to bind demons."

"Of course sir. They would be unable to get very far in such an attempt under our watch, I promise you." The priest had a steely quality to his eyes that reassured Jonathan of his words.

"Are the communication attempts showing any promise? That was another problem Commander Ashfall wanted solved." The more good news he could put in his report the better.

"A few mages have had some minor success with a pair of connected journals, but the distance they can work at is causing some issues. They have turned to the leylines in an attempt to carry the message but that burned the last few journals they connected into ash." The priest shrugged before pausing. "Though now that I think of it, they may try using a crystal to carry the message to the journals instead. I'll speak to them myself Captain."

"Thank you Father," Jonathan replied as he puzzled his way through the explanation. "Unfortunately I have reports to make or I'd go see it for myself. Though I doubt I'd understand half of it."

"The bane of every good man, paperwork." A chuckle came from the older man. "Light bless you, Captain."

"And you as well Father."

* * *

All across camp the men celebrated their survival, giving thanks and honour to the fallen and wishing the injured a swift recovery. After visiting the wounded, most of which were kept asleep through use of potions, Jonathan retreated into his tent as the warriors start to sing. He knew they were lucky that the demons hadn't committed enough forces to outright destroy them and had instead focused on Commander Greybraid and his much larger battalion.

Oghren had been dispatched to retrieve the golem from Justice Peak, and to request Chieftain Magrum to transport their fallen home. The loss of life weighed heavily upon Jonathan but Commander Ashfall had taught him no plan was perfect. The best they could do was work on their weaknesses and trust in the Light, their wit, and their sword arm to provide them victory. And so he reorganized his defences as his men carried on into the evening.

Several small platforms built upon the mountainside would provide the hunters with clear views over the pass. Once the walls and a gate were finished they wouldn't near to fear a direct breach from the east nearly as much, so reinforcing the western portion of the pass to defend against a centaur raid would be their next priority. The ancient elven roads were a blessing when it came to transporting supplies to the pass at least.

Jonathan had ordered the Dawn Watchers south along the road to make contact with the night elves, though the high elves and night elves seemed to share a mutual dislike. Dawn Singer, as a half-elf, was less inclined towards racial bias. Regardless of any personal dislike for each other he hoped they would take the news of the land route being open as a sign to begin trading. Commander Ashfall had sent word of a food shipment arriving but the night elves had been too worried about their wounded comrade, and relieved by her survival, to partake in more than basic trade agreements. They also needed someone of a higher rank in their society to approve of anything else.

Jonathan groaned at the fact that most of the books his lord knight had assigned him were political to increase his awareness of background events and motives. Things were much simpler before he began to notice such problems. At least he was allowed the military history books to assist him in carrying out his orders. Oghren and Seamus had tutored him in dwarven tactics at Justice Peak as well, before he had sent them out to hunt demons.

Another major concern was the limited supply of mana potions they had. It was such a small supply that several priests were beginning to carry blades rather than rely on their powers for every little thing, though the blades were being enchanted by priests and mages alike. The warrior-turned-priest that was in nominal command of his brothers saw no issue with it despite the traditionalists complaining and so Jonathan ignored the whining or told them to take it up with the Commander. The man deserved it for giving Jonathan the headaches after all.

His recommendation of a quarry of a quarry below Justice Peak was met with approval at least, so the stone supply was likely to increase. Especially for outlying fortifications as the overall priority of things was safety before comfort. Even the priests shut their mouths when the people cheered Commander Ashfall for his stance on the matter. The fall of Stormwind had hit the heart of the people brutally.

Jonathan knew his Pa would approve despite his young age, the man had snuck off to join a militia when he was very young after all. Despite being unaware of all the reasons, Jonathan thought it had something to do with providing for the rest of Pa's family. As he finished his paperwork and pulled out his required reading Jonathan felt that no matter what his ancestors would be proud of him. They had lived under Stormwind's banner for generations after all, so they understood service to the people. He smiled at his bookmark, a small painting his Pa had ordered after his birth. He'd write a letter for his Ma in the morning, she'd appreciate it.

* * *

 **AN: Reviewer Darthus: I 'try' to keep within the lore as best I can but lets face it, by the time I get to the Third War I'm likely to have changed so many things the Naga aren't likely to be introduced any other way. I can however say this isn't the rise of ALL the Naga, as they would totally ruin the Second War which will likely be background unless I feel really damn inspired for something. Who knows? But considering the timelines that I can find that is decades into the future so likely a sequel either way. I'm still trying to nail Varian's age down to a specific number for myself though I DO have the King's Calendar year of 596 to work with. Even the demon presence was something I just went 'Can't find anything saying they aren't there before the Horde so ok'. Hence remnants of the Legion.**

 **No estimates on when the next chapter is due but it is definitely going to be Damon. My checklist for interesting ideas is at least getting a workout.**


End file.
